The Airwaves War
by JJ Rust
Summary: Something in TV sets is killing Muggles.  But when Harry, Hermione, Dean and Dennis investigate, they risk starting a war beyond imagination.  Expect lots of crossovers.
1. Chapter 1

"Inspector Harry Potter, SO-15."

The pudgy balding man in the blue Metropolitan Police uniform nodded and shook Harry's hand. "Chief Inspector Wells. I figured you lads from Counter Terrorism Command would show up sooner or later."

Harry glanced down at the dark Muggle suit he wore instead of his normal auror robes. The paper in his hand was just that, a scrap of paper, charmed to look like an official ID from Scotland Yard.

"We already had some folks from the army's chemical weapons unit go through the home." Wells nodded toward the simple-looking red brick house. "No sign of gas or germs or the like."

"Are the bodies still inside?" Harry asked.

"Right where we found them. Come on."

Wells led him up the lighted walkway. Harry took a quick glance over his shoulder. Muggles, most dressed in their bed clothes, stood outside every house in this little neighborhood of Lambeth. Red and blue lights from parked police cars washed over homes, people and light poles.

Harry and the Muggle inspector stepped through the open door. Another policeman stood in front of the couch, snapping pictures. Harry drew a slow breath when he saw the two bodies sitting on the couch, a teenage boy and girl. They looked so peaceful, like they were asleep. The girl, who had purple streaks in her short black hair, was even smiling.

"Any ideas?" Harry turned to Wells.

The chubby inspector scratched the back of his neck. "It's just like the other ones in Bodenham, Leeds and Brighton. No visible signs of trauma, no signs of forced entry. Honestly, it looks like they just went to sleep and never woke up."

Harry walked around to the front of the couch, frowning as he viewed the bodies. He'd seen more than his fair share of death over his twenty-five years. Not that he'd gotten used to it. He doubted he ever would. He certainly hoped not. The day the death of an innocent failed to affect him on some level was the day he stopped being human.

He sighed as he continued staring at the teenage couple. What were they? Sixteen, seventeen? Dead before their lives could really get started. Faces floated through his mind's eye. Cedric Diggory, Colin Creevey . . . and of course, Fred Weasley.

"Carbon monoxide poisoning?" Harry never took his eyes off the bodies.

"No trace of it," Wells replied.

"Drugs?

"We don't think so. Examinations of the other victims didn't find any drugs in their systems. If all this is terrorist related, then I haven't a clue what they're using."

Harry worked his jaw back and forth. He couldn't think of anything Muggle-related that would have killed these two.

That only left one possibility.

He took out his wand and cast a Confundus Charm on the Muggles around him. He then slowly swept the wand around the room.

"'ere. What's that thing?" Wells nodded at the wand.

"Um . . . universal anomaly detector. Scotland Yard just started handing them out."

Wells nodded, satisfied. To his Confunded eyes it probably appeared as some sort of Muggle electronic device.

Harry quickly detected residual magical energies floating through the home. They grew stronger as he turned away from the bodies.

He stopped when he faced the TV. His wand revealed a shimmering white aura around it. The show on the screen continued to play, rather loudly.

"_Okay. Monica, Rachel. For the game. What is Chandler Bing's job?"_

"Was the television on when you got here?" He looked over his shoulder at Wells.

"That was the reason we sent a constable around here. Neighbors complained the telly was on too loud. When our man got here, he found these two exactly like this."

Harry's hand flexed around his wand. He stared back at the set. "I'm taking this television back to headquarters."

XXXXX

"_Dean, chill out. It's just a little ding._

"_Little, Sam? Little? Look at it. It's the size of the freakin' Grand Canyon. How could you do this to my car, man?"_

Harry groaned and looked up at the television set from the Lambeth home, now sitting in the corner of his office at the Aurors Office. It had been on for hours, since that Illison fellow from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office rigged the set so it would play here at the Ministry. In that time it hadn't done anything strange, but Harry did learn a few things about Muggle programs. _Friends_ was mildly amusing, _One Tree Hill_ was pure drabble and _America's Next Top Model_ was filled with whiney, snooty women who looked like they hadn't eaten in a month.

Then there was this show, _Supernatural, _about two brothers who roamed America hunting and killing magical creatures. The program made Harry shake his head. If Sam and Dean Winchester tried any of their tactics in real life, they'd be dead in a heartbeat.

With a grunt, Harry went back to studying reports. He'd placed numerous charms around the television to alert him if it produced any dark magic.

The mystery of Muggles dying peacefully on their sofas wasn't limited to the four cases in Britain. Several dispatches from Ministries and Departments of Magic from several countries had arrived by owl over the past twenty-four hours. A Japanese auror reported similar deaths in Nobeoka and Nagoya. Germany had three cases. Australian authorities discovered ten dead at a small out-of-the-way pub in Broken Hill.

Next Harry picked up a parchment from the American Department of Magic. His eyes lit up when he recognized the name of the auror. Rosa Infante. A grin flashed across his face, remembering how she helped him and his friends prevent American Death Eaters from bolstering Voldemort's ranks, and stop a horde of altered Chupacabra from running amuck in Britain.

_Hard to believe all that was ten years ago._

He sat back and read Rosa's report.

_In the case of the four dead women in the University of Delaware dormitory, Muggle authorities feared the use of chemical or biological weapons. Further tests determined no such weapons were responsible for the deaths. As in the instances in Cumberland, Kentucky and Aurora, Colorado, there were no signs of infectious weapons, illegal narcotics or visible trauma. All victims appeared in a peaceful state when they died._

_While traces of magical energies were detected in Cumberland and Aurora, the strongest readings were found in the dorm room at the University of Delaware. While examining the room I noticed the television seemed to be the source of these energies. My wand revealed a shimmering white aura around the TV, which was still on. It is unclear how this television could have resulted in the deaths of the four women, if it was indeed the television. Such auras were not found around the televisions of the victims in Cumberland or Aurora. It should be noted, though, the victims in those two homes were not discovered until a day or two after their deaths, possibly giving such energies time to dissipate. The four University of Delaware women were found approximately an hour after they died._

The corners of Harry's mouth curled. A shimmering white aura. Exactly what he found in Lambeth.

He skimmed through the other reports. None of them mentioned anything about white auras around televisions. But as in the Cumberland and Aurora cases, the victims had not been discovered for many hours, in some cases a day or two, after they died. As Rosa suggested, whatever was around their tellys may have dissipated.

Harry pulled out a piece of blank parchment from a desk drawer and dipped his pen in his ink bottle. He started to compose a letter to Rosa when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

He looked up and was greeted by flowing red hair and a round freckled face.

Ginny Potter smiled at him, then turned to the telly. "This is how you spend your working day? Locked up in your office watching Muggle shows?"

"It's part of the case I'm working on."

Ginny snorted. "Likely story." She strode over to his desk, leaned over it and kissed him.

"What brings you by here?" Harry gently stroked her hand.

"What, a wife needs an excuse to see her sexy husband? If you must know, Alicia Spinnet's folks just opened a new restaurant in Diagon Alley. I thought we could go there for dinner, kind of like a real date."

"What about James?"

"Bill and Fleur agreed to watch him." Ginny perched herself on Harry's desk and ran her fingers through his thick crown of black hair. "So, what do you say?"

He took his wife's hand and kissed it. "Sounds good to me, luv. Let me just finish this letter and we'll be off."

Harry wrote down his findings from Lambeth and asked Rosa to double-check the televisions from Cumberland and Aurora, while he did the same for the ones in Bodenham, Leeds and Brighton.

"I just need to owl this and I'll be back." He paused as he rounded his desk. "I didn't realize how hungry I was until now."

"That's what happens when you get so wrapped up in saving the world."

Harry chuckled and kissed Ginny on the cheek. "I'll be back in a bit."

**XXXXX**

Ginny watched her husband leave, frowning at the robes he wore that kept her from ogling that gorgeous bum of his. She crossed her feet and drummed her fingers against the edge of the desk in anticipation. Evenings with just the two of them had become rare since she gave birth to James last year. She'd have to thank Fleur profusely when she picked up her son. Her sister-in-law had been the one to suggest they have a nice romantic dinner, just the two of them, while she watched James.

"And you do not 'ave to come get him when you are done eating, if you know what I mean," Fleur had said with a sly grin.

Ginny knew exactly what she meant. She and Harry had been talking about having another child. Why not get started on that tonight?

She smiled and shook her head. She found it hard to believe there had been a time when she would have rather seen Bill marry a goblin than Fleur, or "Phlegm" as she had affectionately called her back then. But after she stuck by Bill when the werewolf Greyback disfigured him, after aiding them in the battle against Voldemort, after helping the family cope with Fred's death, Ginny learned to love Fleur like a sister.

Two cracks shattered her reverie. Ginny turned to the television. A young brown-haired man fired that Muggle weapon . . . a gun, that was it! He fired his gun at some woman with coal black eyes.

"_Sammy! She's coming your way!"_

Ginny watched this Sammy pull out a flask and snap his hand down. Droplets of water struck the woman. She screamed as smoke rose from her body.

_This is somewhat interesting._ Ginny angled herself to face the television. Unlike most pure-bloods she had seen several TV shows, the majority of them back when she dated Dean Thomas. The Muggle-born boy had an extensive collection of video tapes and DVDs, and had perfected a charm so they could be played inside Hogwarts. Most of the time she couldn't help but roll her eyes, aghast at what passed for entertainment in the Muggle world. Thank Merlin Harry never expressed any interest in buying a television.

But she had to admit, this show didn't seem too bad. Hell, the two guys were very cute. She focused on the screen, caught up in their pursuit of this possessed woman who now picked up a trash can and flung it at them.

A content feeling washed over her. She felt so comfortable sitting on the desk. The anxiousness she'd felt earlier waiting for Harry subsided. All she wanted to do was sit here and watch TV.

Ginny started to feel tired, but somehow managed to keep her eyes open. She couldn't fall asleep now. She had to watch this show.

A bright white line ran down the middle of the screen. Within moments it expanded and actually grew outside the screen.

Ginny simply sat and watched passively.

Something pulled itself through the white light. A misshapen human-like face appeared, rows of pointy teeth sticking out its mouth. Thin gazelle-like horns grew out of its head, which was attached to a rail thin purplish-black body.

In the back of her mind, Ginny knew she should be afraid, that she should pull out her wand and fight this thing.

Instead she just sat on the desk and watched the creature emerge from the television.

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Harry's adventures with Rosa Infante are chronicled in my fanfics "Dark Horizon" and "Midnight's Blood."_


	2. Chapter 2

"Ginny!"

The creature whipped its monstrous head away from Ginny and toward Harry, who stood in the open doorway.

Ginny closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She blinked and locked her gaze on the creature, its attention divided between her and Harry.

Her heart hammered in her chest. She slid off the desk and backed away, her hand reaching under her robes for her wand.

Harry's wand was out in a flash. The creature drew its head back, then slid back into the portal.

"_Stupify!"_

Harry's spell streaked into the portal. It went over the creature's head as it vanished from sight.

"Ginny!" He bounded over to her. "Ginny, are you all right?"

She rubbed her head as Harry grasped her shoulders. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just felt dizzy there. What was that thing?"

"No idea." He turned back to the television. "But I'll bet it has something to do with all those Muggle deaths."

Ginny sucked down a deep breath. The dizziness faded. She gripped her wand tight. "Then let's get it."

She slipped from her husband's grasp and strode toward the portal around the TV.

"Ginny, wait!"

Wand extended, Ginny put one foot through the portal.

Harry grunted and shook his head. Typical Ginny. Whenever there's danger, her first impulse was to charge head-long into it.

Knowing he wouldn't talk her out of it, he followed his wife into the portal.

They stepped into a dark forest, dry leaves crunching beneath their feet. Harry glanced over his shoulder. The portal remained.

_But for how much longer?_ God help them if they became trapped here, wherever here was.

"_Lumos." _

The tip of Ginny's wand glowed white. She scanned the woods for the creature. Harry stood by her, ready to cast a spell should they find it.

"Who are you two?"

Harry and Ginny spun around. Harry's mouth started to open, ready to shout a spell.

Two young men stood a few meters away, one with an angular face and brown hair, the other round-faced with black hair.

"Harry," Ginny gasped. "Those are the two from that show you were watching."

With unblinking eyes, Harry gawked at Sam and Dean Winchester. His mind flashed back several years, when a spell by Dean Thomas accidentally released characters from an _Animaniacs _DVD, who proceeded to run amuck throughout Hogwarts. This time, however, he and Ginny somehow wound up inside a television show.

"You know," Dean began. "If you two are looking for a little nighttime nookie action, this probably isn't the place for it."

Harry took a breath and composed himself. "We're . . . we're looking for a monster."

Both brothers furrowed their brows and looked at each other.

"Are you two Hunters?" Sam turned to Harry.

"Yeah." He nodded slightly. "Yeah. We were -"

"There!" Ginny pointed.

Harry stared past the Winchesters. The brothers turned around and drew their handguns in one fluid motion.

The light from Ginny's wand illuminated the creature. My God, the thing had to be eight feet tall.

"What kind of demon is that?" asked Sam.

"A dead one."

Harry jumped when Dean's handgun exploded. He never realized how bloody loud those things could be.

The creature hissed and ducked into the shadows. Bullets smacked against tree bark. Harry barely heard himself shout above the gunfire as he and Ginny sent spells into the woods.

Silence fell over them. Harry shook his head, trying to clear the dull hum in his ears. He checked in all directions for the creature. Nothing. He tried to listen for the sound of footsteps on the dry leaves. All he could hear was that damn hum. If only he had cast an Ear Protection Charm before the Winchesters started shooting their damn guns.

A shadow flickered among the trees.

"Ginny." He pointed in the direction of the movement. The light from his wife's wand swept over the trees.

The creature wasn't there.

A chill spread over Harry's body. His wand hand grew moist with sweat.

_Where are you?_

Something moved to his left. Harry turned. He swore he saw the silhouette of something tall, its stringbean arms arching down as if it just threw something.

Harry held his breath. He looked up.

A huge log hurtled toward them.

"Look out!" He grabbed Ginny and pushed her to the ground, covering her body with his. He glimpsed Sam and Dean drop to the ground as the log thudded a couple meters from them.

"You all right?" Harry asked his wife.

"Yes, I'm fine!" She snapped. "Now stop worrying about me and let's get that damn thing!"

Harry helped Ginny to her feet. The two started toward the trees.

"C'mon, Sammy." Dean slapped his brother on the shoulder. "No demon throws a log at us and gets away with it."

The four charged into the woods, Ginny's wand lighting the way. Harry's heart pounded furiously, breaking through the hum that had filled his ears. His muscles tensed, waiting to see the creature.

There was no sign of it.

"Where the hell did it go?" Harry clenched his teeth in frustration.

Ginny skidded to a halt. She pointed to a rock outcropping ahead of them connected to an earthen mound.

"Wait here." Harry held up a hand at Ginny, then slowly stepped toward the rocks.

He got within three meters when he sensed someone behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to find Sam and Dean treading lightly, guns at the ready. Dean pointed ahead of him and nodded. Harry kept going, wand at the ready.

He reached the rocks and knelt down. Sweat formed on his forehead despite the cool night air. He sucked in a slow, deep breath and peered around the rocks.

A shimmering white portal floated behind the mound.

The tip of Harry's wand lit up. He scanned the ground and found large footprints leading up to the portal.

"What the hell is that?" Dean asked.

"Some kind of portal. The creature used it to try and enter our world."

"Your world?" Dean's face scrunched up. "What do you mean by that? Just who are you people?"

"My name's Harry Potter. This is my wife, Ginny. We're . . . well, we're sort of Hunters, like yourselves. Anyway, that creature may have killed a lot of Mug . . . I mean, people, and we have to find it. Come on."

Harry got up and ran toward the portal, Ginny right behind him.

White filled his vision. When it faded, daylight greeted Harry.

"Harry. What is this place?" Ginny asked in a stunned voice.

Harry felt his face contort in a mask of confusion. A rolling green field filled with flowers and trees extended toward the horizon. Above them was a brilliant blue sky and a bright yellow sun.

And it was all animated.

"What the hell?"

Harry turned and saw Dean gazing at this new world, a stunned look on his face.

"How the hell did we wind up in a cartoon?" Dean looked to his astonished brother, shaking his head. "What kind of demon can do this?"

"I have no idea. Maybe we should ask them." Sam nodded toward Harry and Ginny.

Dean stomped over to them. Harry tightened his grip on his wand, eyeing the gun in Dean's hand.

"So how about it? What's this thing we're chasing?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But I'm sure it's connected to this case I'm working on."

Dean scowled. He turned back to Sam. "We gotta get Dad's book. There's gotta be something in there about . . . this."

"Harry. Look." Ginny pointed.

He followed his wife's finger. His eyes bulged when he saw a pink teddy bear hopping toward them, a huge smile on its face. It stopped a meter or so away and waved.

"Hi. Welcome to Care-a-lot." The bear spoke in a sing-song voice. "I'm Cheer Bear."

"Aw, no freakin' way!" Dean backed up a step. "That son-of-a-bitch demon dropped us into a Care Bears cartoon?"

Cheer Bear gasped, her hands covering her mouth. "Such naughty language. Why are you so mad? Do you need a hug?"

Dean threw up his hands and shook his head. "Whoa, no, no, no. I don't do hugs with nauseatingly cute cartoon characters. You wanna hug someone, hug Sammy here. He used to watch your show all the time when he was a kid."

A mortified look fell over Sam's face. "Dude, that was just a phase."

Dean responded with a wry grin and a chuckle.

"Um, excuse me Miss . . . Cheer Bear." Harry winced just saying it. _Dean's right. This thing is nauseatingly cute._

"Yes," the bear said with a huge smile. "What can I do to help you? I love helping people. Helping people shows you care, and when you help people, it makes everyone happy, and . . ."

"Yes, yes. I'm sure." Harry held up both hands to stop Cheer Bear. "Look, we're trying to find a . . . well, a creature. Tall, dark skin. Thin horns growing from its head."

"Oh yes. I saw it a little while ago running through the meadow. He looked like he was in a bad mood. So I sent Grumpy Bear to help him."

"Where did they go?"

"Over there. By the pine tree forest."

"Thanks." He turned to Ginny, Sam and Dean. "Come on."

The four hurried toward the pine trees.

"Have a wonderfully happy and cheery day!" Cheer Bear waved at them.

"Whatever." Dean grunted and glared at Sam. "Man, how could you watch this show and not puke?"

"Dude, I was five. What do you want?"

Harry weaved through the pine trees, his eyes darting left to right. He scanned the ground, looking for signs of footprints. The grass showed no signs of being disturbed. In fact he couldn't even call it grass. It was just a simple green surface with no detail. No blades of grass or fallen leaves of branches one would expect to see in a forest.

"Sometimes people get grumpy."

Harry halted when he heard the voice. Definitely a Care Bear. He stood silently, trying to determine its direction.

"It's okay to be grumpy sometimes, but you eventually have to go back to being happy. Maybe we can talk about why you're grumpy over cookies and cocoa."

Harry took off to the right, Ginny, Sam and Dean behind him. He slowed when he came to a small slope and checked the bottom. Next to a pair of pine trees stood the tall creature, with Grumpy Bear looking up at it.

"Come on. Let's go back to my cottage and -"

The creature's hand snapped down and grabbed Grumpy Bear by the throat. The cartoon character's eyes widened.

"NO!" Harry cried out.

In a flash the creature whisked Grumpy Bear off the ground and slammed him into a tree. Blood exploded from his back and slid down the bark. The creature released the Care Bear, its limp body crumpling to the ground.

Then it turned to Harry and the others.

"Damn you!" Teeth clenched, Harry raised his wand. A Reductor Curse shot through the air. The creature ducked. The bolt obliterated a tree behind it.

Harry jumped at the crack of Sam and Dean's handguns. The creature took cover behind a tree.

"_Reducto!"_

A bolt shot from Ginny's wand. The tree exploded. The creature stood in the open, its blood red eyes narrowed at them. Harry opened his mouth, ready to shout a Body-Bind Curse.

A blue beam shot out of the creature's forehead.

Harry's and Ginny both summoned shield charms, deflecting it just in time.

The creature fired another beam from its head. This one struck the ground a couple meters from the four. A fountain of dirt exploded in front of them. The shockwave picked up Harry and threw him to the ground. The air shot out of his lungs. Slowly he picked himself up, wheezing. Pain clenched his mid-section. He looked around. Ginny sat up, specks of dirt staining her face. Sam and Dean groaned behind him as they got to their feet.

Harry stared back down the slope. The creature dashed through the pine forest.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Harry got up and jogged down the slope. He slowed when he reached the broken body of Grumpy Bear. Anger burned inside as his eyes fixed on the dead Care Bear.

_It's a cartoon. It's not even real._

But seeing its blood, seeing the fear in its eyes the moment before the creature killed it, made this animated animal very real to Harry.

His face tightened in anger and determination, Harry sprinted through the pine forest. The creature faded in the distance. Harry breathed hard, saliva spilling from the sides of his mouth. He would not let this thing get away.

The trees gave way to another field. In the middle of it stood an isolated white cottage. He saw the creature ducking through the open door.

Harry ran toward the cottage. He glanced over his shoulder. Ginny, Sam and Dean kept pace with him.

Screams erupted from the cottage. Care Bear screams. Harry's legs pumped harder.

When he reached the doorway he spotted two Care Bears huddled in the corner, trembling and holding one another. His gaze moved to the center of the cottage.

Another portal floated in the air.

"You think it leads to another Muggle show?" Ginny asked, almost out of breath.

Harry nodded and started forward.

Dean sighed loudly. "I swear, if we wind up in an episode of _Teletubbies_ I'm goin' on a shooting spree."

Harry went through the portal, joined by Ginny, Sam and Dean.

The world they landed on was real, or at least not a cartoon. Harry looked around the brightly lit hallway, with rows of lockers embedded in the walls. A green and white banner hung on the wall across from him.

GO POLK MIDDLE SCHOOL WOLVES!

"What is this place?" A quizzical look fell over Ginny's face.

"It looks like a Muggle school," Harry answered

"What's a Muggle?" Dean canted his head.

Harry's mouth hung open. Damn, how could he answer that?

"Okay, look." Dean stepped toward him. "All my years doing this I've never seen Hunters use . . . magic wands. Just who the hell are you two?"

Harry's shoulders sagged. He might as well tell them. They were only TV characters. Besides, they dealt with magical beings on their show.

"We're wizards. Honest-to-goodness wizards."

"Wizards, huh?" Dean folded his arms. "You wouldn't happen to know Sabrina the Teenage Witch, would you? I mean, she's not a teenager anymore, so . . ." He waggled his eyebrows.

Sam groaned and slapped his forehead.

A female voice echoing through the hallway caught Harry's attention.

"I don't know what to do, Gordy. Now that Ned's back with Suzie do I tell him how I really feel about him? I mean, what if he gets mad at me and we never speak to each other again?"

Harry peaked around the corner. A tall girl with dark shoulder-length hair walked next to a lazy-looking man wearing blue coveralls and holding a mop.

"Yeah, you're in quite a pickle, Moze. But don't worry. I have a brilliant idea . . . or I will once I wake up from my one o'clock nap. Which starts . . ." Gordy looked at his wristwatch. "Ooh! In five minutes. Gotta go."

Gordy spun around and walked away.

Moze threw out her hands in frustration. "Thanks for nothing, Gordy. As usual."

"What show's this?" Ginny looked to Harry, then to Sam and Dean.

"No idea." Dean nodded toward Moze. "But I hope we can come back to it when that chick turns eighteen."

Sam gagged. "Dean, for God's sake."

"Pervert." Ginny glared at him.

Moze turned around, peering down the hallway. "Hello? Somebody there?"

A scream cut through the air. Harry couldn't tell if it was male or female. Moze jumped around. A black boy with glasses ran down the hallway, arms flailing.

"Moze! You gotta help me!"

"What is it, Cookie? Evelyn Kwong threatening to beat you up again?"

"No, it's not Evelyn. There's a monster loose in the school, and its chasing me!"

Moze shook her head. "Cookie. What did I tell you about watching horror movies while eating enchiladas before you go to bed?"

Sam and Dean tucked their handguns inside their jackets and stepped around the corner. Harry and Ginny joined them.

"Excuse me." Dean strode up to the two students. "Did you say you saw a monster?"

Moze turned and gave all four a curious gaze. "Who are you?"

"We're with . . . um, the Government." Dean flashed her a grin. "So, this monster. Where did you see it?"

Moze sighed. "Look. There's no such thing -"

"It chased me out of the gym!" Cookie interrupted her. "And it's coming this way!"

"Cookie." Moze sighed in annoyance. "For the last time, there's no such thing as -"

Several screams filled the air. Harry looked past Cookie and Moze to the other end of the hallway. A crowd of students dashed through the T-junction, screaming and waving their arms. Seconds after they disappeared, the creature came into view. It stopped when it saw Harry and the others.

Moze and Cookie screamed.

The creature loped down the corridor.

"Come on!" Harry tore down the hallway, Ginny, Sam and Dean on his heels.

They darted around the corner and saw the creature squeeze through a door marked JANITOR'S CLOSET. Harry slowed as he reached the door. Wand gripped tight, he held his breath, and whirled around.

The creature was gone, but another portal hovered in the middle of the closet.

"Dammit!" Harry's jaw clenched. He hesitated going through. What if this creature kept leading them through one show after another? Would they be able to find their way back to their own world? Would he and Ginny be stuck here forever? Never see little James again? That thought twisted his stomach. He went through his entire life without parents. He'd be damned if he'd let his son go through that same torment.

But he did have a job to do. How many more Muggles would die if he didn't stop this creature? His wand should be able to pick up energy signatures from these portals and guide them back to the real world.

_I hope._

Muscles tensed, he marched toward the portal.

"Huh? Wha . . .?"

Harry glanced at Gordy, lying on the floor half-asleep.

"Boy, do I have the strangest dreams."

Gordy pressed his head against his pillow and started snoring.

The sound of cheering greeted Harry, Ginny, Sam and Dean as they emerged from the portal onto a metal stage. Harry looked out at an arena filled with thousands of people, many holding posterboard signs. "I LOVE CM PUNK" "EXTREME LIVES" and "WE WANT TABLES" were some of the things written on the signs. In the center of the arena sat a square ring.

"There!" Sam pointed.

Harry looked. The creature stood in the shadows on the other side of the stage. Harry tensed when a blue beam shot out of its head. He and Ginny cast shield charms.

The beam never reached them. It snaked to the left and disappeared behind a black curtain. Harry's eyes flickered up from the curtain to the huge video screen above it. Three dark red words dominated it.

ECW.

Sam and Dean started toward the creature when ominous music filled the arena. It was followed by a deep, harsh voice.

"I'M THE BOGEYMAN . . . AND I'M COMIN' TO GET YA!"

The curtain flew open. A muscular dark-skinned man with a painted face, missing front teeth and a furry vest jumped out. His body gyrated wildly as he waved around a gnarled stick.

"W-What is that thing?" Ginny gaped at this . . . man?

Dean chuckled. "No way. It's the Bogeyman."

"I thought they only lived in children's closets." Ginny brought up her wand.

"No. He's a pro wrestler. Man, I love this guy!"

The Bogeyman sauntered up to Dean, who smiled wide.

"Dude, can I get -"

The Bogeyman's arm lashed out and caught Dean in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Dean!" Sam charged forward.

The Bogeyman rammed his stick into Sam's groin. Harry cringed as he watched the other Winchester brother collapse in a heap.

The Bogeyman turned on him. Harry and Ginny brought up their wands at the same time.

"_St-" _

Red smoke billowed from the Bogeyman's stick. A putrid smell clogged Harry's nostrils. He coughed and fell to his knees. Bile swirled in his stomach. He clenched his teeth, trying not to puke.

Fear clenched his heart when he saw Ginny fall to her knees. The Bogeyman stood over her, gyrating and laughing, thick drool spilling from his mouth. Harry brought up his wand, trying to cast a spell, his violent coughs preventing him from doing so.

The Bogeyman reached down and grabbed Ginny by the hair. He dropped his stick, reached into a pouch on his side and shot his hand in the hair.

Harry's stinging, watery eyes widened. A mass of worms wriggled in the Bogeyman's hand. He eyed Ginny's open mouth with macabre delight.

Harry tried a stunning spell, but only wound up coughing on the red smoke hovering around him. He forced himself to his feet, ran at the Bogeyman and punched him in the back.

The wrestler turned around, laughed and looked back at Ginny. Her eyes bulged with horror as she stared at the worms.

Harry noticed the stick the Bogeyman dropped. He snatched it off the ground.

The Bogeyman's worm-filled hand fell toward Ginny's mouth.

Harry swung the stick, catching the Bogeyman on the side of the head. The big man stumbled, releasing his worms. Most splattered onto the stage. A few rolled down Ginny's robes. None, thankfully, got into her mouth.

Harry clubbed the Bogeyman again, and again. The wrestler fell on his side, barely stirring.

"Ginny!" Harry coughed and helped his wife up. "Ginny, are you all right?"

She hacked a couple times. "Yeah. Yeah." She fell against Harry's chest. "What deranged Muggle would think shoving worms in a person's mouth is entertaining?"

"Makes me laugh." Dean staggered to his feet.

Both Harry and Ginny shot him death stares.

"Sorry." He leaned down and hooked his brother under the arm. "You okay there, Sammy? The family jewels still working?"

Sam wheezed as he stood on shaky legs. "I'll be fine . . . in a day or two."

"Hey!" Ginny looked around the stage. "Where did that monster go?"

Harry swung his head around. The creature had disappeared.

He led the others backstage, past crates, barrels and large, strangely-dressed Muggles. Harry extended his wand and muttered a charm to detect another portal. He prayed it would work, otherwise they may never find the creature.

Worse yet, they may never get back home.

The wand tingled. Harry let it lead them through the corridors until they reached a locker room, where they found a portal in the spacious shower.

_Nice to know that worked._

They all went through the portal and ended up in a mansion. The world around them was in black and white.

"Dean?" Sam looked around the gloomy living room. "This place looks really familiar."

"I know, man. "I think . . ."

The sound of skipping feet interrupted Dean. A dark-haired boy with pointy ears entered the room and gave the four a curious gaze.

"Hi. Who are you?"

Dean shook his head. "Come on. _The Munsters_? Why can't we wind up in the Playboy Channel?"

Harry ignored him. "My name's Harry. This is Ginny, Sam and Dean. We're trying to track down a monster."

"Really. Well, we've got one under the stairs."

"You do?" Harry's heart raced. He led the others into the hallway and turned to the stairway.

"Where is it?"

"Hang on. I'll get him. Here, Spot!"

The stairs rose, revealing a dark chamber underneath. Harry stepped back when he saw the head of a dragon in the shadows. A deep roar burst from its mouth. Flames shot out its nostrils.

Harry groaned and shook his head. He swept his wand in all directions. He felt a slight tingle go up his arm.

"This way." He ran to the front door and threw it open.

"Bye!" The Munster boy waved to them as they darted down the walkway and onto the street.

The four ran a couple blocks before they found another portal in a garage.

"James Bond movie. James Bond movie." Dean crossed his fingers as he followed Harry, Ginny and Sam into the shimmering white light.

" _. . . I cut down trees, I wear high heels, suspendies and a bra! Oh I wish I'd been a girly, just like my dear mama!"_

"Oh Bevers! And I thought you were so rugged!"

Harry moved out of the way as a blond woman in a white gown stormed past him, crying. He turned to the goofy looking lumberjack. This show he recognized. It was one of many Dean Thomas played for him back at Hogwarts.

_Monty Python's Flying Circus._

"Um, excuse me?" Harry approached the lumberjack. "Have you seen a monster?"

"Monster, eh? Tall chap, dark skin, horns and bad teeth."

"Yes. That's the one."

The lumberjack shook his head. "Nope. Haven't seen him."

Harry snorted and rushed across the stage. The scenery changed rapidly. They ran through the office of a British army colonel who yelled at them for being too silly. Next they entered a small restaurant, where Harry asked the woman behind the counter if she had seen a monster.

"No, no monster in here today. Just those bloody Vikings."

A group of men in Viking garb stood and started singing, _"Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam!"_

Dean bobbed his head to the song.

"SHUT UP!" The woman screeched. "SHUT UP!"

Harry shook his head and exited the restaurant. They emerged on what looked like a soccer pitch where well dressed goofy-looking men tried jumping over a tiny row of matchboxes.

Another portal hovered over the middle of the field. They hurried through it . . .

. . . and wound up in a cornfield. Harry swatted aside the stalks until they emerged in a clearing. He saw several men in baggy white uniforms and ballcaps standing around a diamond-shaped field. Beyond the field was a two-story farmhouse.

"Aw cool." Dean grinned and looked around. _"Field of Dreams."_

"Just don't start crying, okay?"

Dean snapped his head toward Sam. "Hey! Guys are allowed to cry at this movie."

"Excuse me?" One of the baggy-suited men approached them. The word SOX was inscribed vertically on the left side of his tunic. "Can I help you folks?"

Harry introduced himself and the others. The man tipped his cap. "Shoeless Joe Jackson. If you want to watch the game, the bleachers are over there."

"Actually, we were wondering. Have you seen . . . a monster?"

Shoeless Joe furrowed his brow. "The only monster I've seen lately is Ty Cobb. He tried to bully his way onto the field yesterday, until Walter Johnson gave him some chin music and sent him scurrying back to the cornfield."

Harry had no idea what this Shoeless Joe character was talking about. He stared past the man, his eyes scanning the pitch and the house beyond. Was there another portal in there?

Harry scowled. They'd gone through three different shows and found no sign of this monster. As much as he hated to, he had to admit this thing had given them the slip.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

_

* * *

_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Just to keep track of the crossovers, they are, in order of appearance . . . _Supernatural, The Care Bears _(which I swear to you I have NEVER . . . EEEEVER watched. All the info on that show I picked up on wikipedia for the sake of accuracy)_, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, ECW _(Extreme Championship Wrestling)_, The Munsters, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Field of Dreams_. For those unfamiliar with the characters in the last one, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson were all real-life American baseball players from the early 20th Century. Jackson had the third highest batting average in baseball history, but was banned from the game for his alleged role in throwing the 1919 World Series for money. Ty Cobb has the second most hits of anyone in baseball history, but was a drunken, racist psychopath. Walter Johnson has the second most wins of any pitcher in baseball history. The term "chin music" refers to throwing the ball very close to a batter. This is usually done as a message to the batter that the inside part of home plate belongs to the pitcher, so back off.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry worked his jaw back and forth as he tromped back from the owl barn on the roof of the Ministry of Magic. He ignored the bustle of witches and wizards in the hallways, his mind fixed on the tall, devilish creature from the TV.

_What are you?_

He'd sent off owls to the other aurors around the world working this case. Had any of them had a similar experience? Did any of them chase this creature into a television set and get lost? Harry closed his eyes, thankful his wand had been able to locate the portals and lead him and Ginny back to the real world.

"We'll keep an eye out for that demon," Dean Winchester had told him. "Keep in touch."

Harry had nodded to him. Was it even possible for TV characters to search for this thing on their own?

He took the old-fashioned elevator down to the Aurors Office. He barely registered the glances of other nine people crowded around him.

"Merlin's Beard. That's Harry Potter," a short, young witch with brown hair whispered to her friend. The girl, who couldn't have been more than a year or two out of Hogwarts, couldn't seem to figure out whether to stare at him or her shoes.

Harry groaned. It had been eight years since he defeated Voldemort and still people kept fawning over him. He wondered if this hero worship would ever stop.

_I'm just another auror doing his job._

_Or rather trying to do his job._

The elevator shuddered and stopped. Harry slid between a couple overweight wizards and strode down the hall, picturing the television creature again. Would it strike again? Would more Muggles die while he sat in his office with no plan how to stop it?

He shook his head. If people could see him now, maybe they'd realize he was undeserving of their hero worship. Heroes were supposed to have all the answers, solve every problem. Yet last night when he tried to solve this particular problem he almost got his wife killed, then nearly got them both lost in that maze of a television world. Who would have looked after James if that had happened?

_Me a hero. Right._

Harry snorted. Beating himself up wouldn't get him any closer to capturing that creature.

Clenching his fists with renewed determination, he looked up as he approached his office . . . and halted just before the open door.

A woman with bushy brown hair sat in the chair in front of his desk. She swung around and smiled. "It's about time. Another few minutes and I would have cast a Summoning Charm for you."

Harry's insides swelled at the sight of Hermione Weasley, Assistant Projects Manager for the Ministry's Office of Magical Research and Experimentation.

"Sorry." He grinned as he stepped inside his office. "I had quite a few owls to send. I'm glad you're here."

Hermione waited for him to sit before continuing. "I wish I could have been here sooner, but you wouldn't believe how many books I looked through for that thing you and Ginny went after. My boss was none too pleased with all the work I missed because of your request."

"Tell him to get over it. Stopping some monster from killing Muggles is more important."

Harry leaned forward, folding his hands. Anticipation swirled inside him, threatening to burst through his skin. It was just like back at Hogwarts. Whenever he needed answers, he'd just go to Hermione. He swore the woman had memorized every book in the school library by their Third Year.

Hermione emitted a long sigh. Her eyes flickered to the floor for a moment. "I'm sorry, Harry. I looked through every book I could think of. I even checked old Ministry records dating back to the year television was invented. I didn't find anything that fits the description of that creature you and Ginny saw last night." She frowned. "I'm sorry, Harry. I wish I could be more helpful."

"I know. It's just . . . television's been around for, what? Sixty, seventy years? Surely someone must have seen that creature before now."

"That's assuming it came into existence right when television was invented. And given the number of incidents around the world, it's probably 'they' instead of 'it.'"

"That's comforting."

Hermione crossed one foot over the other. "For all we know, it may have taken years for these creatures to develop. How I haven't a clue. It's also possible they may have existed before television was ever invented, and for whatever reason they prefer living in there instead of here in the real world."

"Which means someone out there has to have seen it."

"And if that was the case, someone would have mentioned it. Even if it were an unsubstantiated report, it would have been in at least one of the books I looked through. Harry, as far as the Wizarding World is concerned, creatures like the one you and Ginny encountered don't exist."

Harry sat up straighter. Hermione's last words echoed in his head. He stared silently at his friend.

"Harry?" Hermione canted her head. "Harry, what is it?"

"I think you just gave me an idea. Creatures that don't exist, you said?"

"Yes?" Hermione cranked an eyebrow.

"If we can't find out what that creature was from reference books or Ministry files, then we have to look somewhere else. And I know just the place . . . or rather, I know just the _person_ to see."

Hermione's face scrunched up in a quizzical look. Moments later her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Harry. You don't mean . . . her?"

Harry nodded.

Hermione rolled her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

"Harry!"

Luna Thomas beamed and rose from her chair, her radish-shaped earrings dangling from her lobes.

"Hello, Luna." Harry said as Luna gave him a hug. "Good to see you again."

"You too. I can't wait to tell Dean you came by. He'll be so excited. He still thinks the world of you, you know."

Harry gave her a slight nod. He certainly hoped that was true.

Luna aimed her protuberant eyes over Harry's shoulder. "Hermione. How are you doing?"

"Oh, fine. You?"

"Wonderful. I just found out last week I'm pregnant again."

Harry's eyes widened in amazement. Dean and Luna hadn't even gotten to their fifth wedding anniversary and this would be their third child. At this rate they'd wind up with a bigger family than the Weasleys.

"Congratulations," he smiled.

"Thank you. And how's your son?"

"He's fine. Eight-months-old now. Seems to get bigger every day."

"And what about you, Hermione?"

Harry bit his lip. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Hermione's jaw stiffen. She finally drew a slow breath and answered with a flat voice. "No children . . . yet. Hopefully soon."

Hermione turned away, pretending to examine the office of tightly packed desks and walls covered with oversized covers of _The Quibbler, _including one with Harry's face and the headline "HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN"_._ Ron had told him he and Hermione had been trying to conceive for the past year-and-a-half without success. His best friend made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face that day. At times it made Harry reluctant to talk about James around them, even when they asked about their nephew.

"I'd suggest covering your bed with petals from Wivillren Flowers when Venus is at its brightest," Luna suggested to Hermione. "When Dean and I tried that, I wound up pregnant with Calliope."

Harry choked on his own saliva. He glimpsed Hermione whip her head around, looking appalled.

"Um . . . uh, I wish we had time to catch up, Luna." Harry wanted to steer the conversation in another direction before Hermione went off. "But I'm actually here on official business. I was hoping you could help me with a case I'm working on."

Somehow Luna's eyes grew even larger. "Really? It's the Biloko, isn't it? We've been reporting for the last year that they're digging a tunnel from Africa to Britain. Very vicious creatures. They feed on human flesh."

"Um, no." Harry heard Hermione groaning behind him. "Actually, this is a creature that somehow lives inside Muggle TV sets." He proceeded to describe the monster he, Ginny and the Winchesters chased last night.

"Hmm." Without another word, Luna turned and plopped down on her chair. She opened the left hand drawer of her desk, which was crammed with parchment. Harry raised an eyebrow when he noticed something attached to several pieces of parchment. Muggle post-it notes of various colors.

_Those have to be from Dean._

Luna grabbed handfuls of parchment, scanned them for a few seconds then dumped them on her desk. Harry leaned forward, catching the scribbles on some of the post-it notes.

THINGS THAT FLY AND ARE PURPLE

THINGS WITH HORNS THAT LIVE IN LAKES

THINGS THAT ARE FLUFFY AND FROM HOLLAND

THINGS THAT LIVE IN TREES AND BITE PEOPLE

He heard a gasp behind him. Harry turned and saw Hermione gaping at the ever growing mound of parchment. "How can you find anything in this . . . this mess?" she stammered.

Luna ignored her and kept digging through the parchment until her torso completely vanished in the drawer. Harry gazed at the piles of parchment on the desk, which now reached his chin.

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea._

"Here it is."

Harry drew his head back in surprise as Luna extracted herself from the drawer. She held up a stack of parchment in front of him.

"Um, thanks." He took it from Luna, amazed she could actually find what he wanted in that mess. An aqua blue post-it note drew his attention.

NASTY THINGS THAT LIVE IN MUGGLE TELEVISION

Harry stared at it without blinking, shaking his head. After all the help Luna had given him back at Hogwarts, he should have known better than to underestimate this quirky woman.

He started reading the first page.

_Kakkarsprugs look like large balls of yellow fur. They have tentacles that shoot out of the screen and . . ._

Harry sighed and turned to the next page.

_The Rangosi are a race of wraith-like creatures that possess Muggles during commercials and force them to buy things they don't need._

Not it either. Next page.

_Barney is a fat purple dragon whose melodious singing brainwashes young Muggles . . ._

Harry groaned. Doubt crept into his head again. He turned to the next page.

His fingers tightened on the parchment.

_The Stacyx are thin as a beanpole but very tall, over two-and-a-half meters. They have thin curved horns, blood red eyes and a mouthful of pointy teeth._

"That's it!" Harry stabbed the parchment and showed it to Hermione. "That's what we chased last night."

Luna glanced down at the parchment. "Oh. The Stacyx. I haven't thought of them in a while."

Harry turned the page, hoping to find more information. But those two sentences were all Luna had written.

"Isn't there anything more on these Stacyx?"

"I'm sorry. I was going to fill in more, but at the time the big scandal at Gringotts broke. You know, the goblins who ran that Quidditch betting ring and stole from the vaults to cover their wagers. By the time I got back around to this, I couldn't find the original article."

"I'm not surprised," Hermione said. "I mean, how can you find anything in that mess? You need to . . ."

Harry waved at her to be silent. "Isn't there anything else you remember from the article?"

"Only a few details. I only managed to look at it briefly. You'd probably be better off talking to the man who wrote it."

"Do you remember his name?" _Please remember his name._

"Oh yes. He's a freelance writer who's worked with Daddy a few times before. Bentley Basham. He's an ex-auror, and he was the one who fought the Stacyx when they first appeared."

**XXXXX**

After getting Basham's address from Luna's father, Xenophilius, Harry and Hermione bid them farewell and Apparated. Within seconds they stood in a dank, grimy section of Diagon Alley. A stench Harry had no desire to identify hovered around him. Hermione scrunched her face in disgust.

"What a charming place." Hermione coughed and scrunched her face in disgust.

Harry waved a hand in front of him, trying unsuccessfully to rid the air around him of that foul odor. He spotted two raggedly-dressed wizards conversing near the entrance of the rundown building across from them. One turned his way. Harry could see the man's gaze lock on to the auror symbol on his robes. The man turned to his friend and nodded. They proceeded down the lane as quickly as possible.

Any other time, Harry would have followed them to see what they were up to. But he doubted those two posed a greater threat than these Stacyx things.

Harry and Hermione walked to dilapidated building and climbed two flights of rickety stairs that he felt would collapse any second. They stepped off on the second floor and proceeded to a door with the number 16.

"Mister Basham." Harry knocked on the door.

No answer. He tried again.

"Mister Basham. My name's Harry Potter, Aurors Office."

Seconds later, the door creaked open.

A sagging, wrinkled face greeted him. Liver spots dotted the old man's head, which sprouted just a few wisps of gray hair.

"Harry Potter?" He cranked an eyebrow.

"Yes. Are you Bentley Basham?"

The man slowly tilted his head from one side to the other. "Let's see it then."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The scar, boy. If you really are Harry Potter, you'll have the scar. Let's see it."

Harry frowned. He brushed back the hair from his forehead and leaned forward, giving the man a good look at his lightning bolt scar.

"Ah, you are him. Yes, I'm Bentley Basham. So what do you want?"

"Sir, are you familiar with creatures called the Stacyx?"

Basham froze. His brown eyes locked on Harry.

"Nothing better to do then?"

"I'm sorry?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"Is the savior of the Wizarding World so bored you need to come to this pitiful excuse for a flat and ridicule a crazed ex-auror? Your bosses send you?"

"No. I got your address from Xenophilius Lovegood at _The Quibbler."_

"Hmph! Well tell old Xenophilius I've got no stories to give him today. In fact, why don't you tell him I could use a steady job? Better than him coming round a few times a year to pick my brain because he needs to fill extra space in his rag. Now good day."

Basham started to close the door. Harry stuck his foot out, wincing when it got crushed between the door and the frame.

"They're back! Mister Basham, the Stacyx are back!"

Basham peeked through the crack. He pulled the door open a bit. Harry sighed in relief and tried to shake the pain from his foot.

"You're serious?"

"Yes. I chased one of them last night, into a television set."

Basham twisted his lips and groaned.

"Mister Basham, I assure you I'm not here to ridicule you. I swear, the Stacyx are back. I think they've already killed several Muggles, and not just in Britain. I've gotten reports of similar deaths in the U.S., Germany, Australia, Japan, Russia and Brazil. You fought them once before. I need your help, please, before more people die."

Basham blinked a few times. The wrinkled skin around his nose and mouth twisted as he regarded Harry in silence.

"Come in, then." He opened the door fully and backed up, letting Harry and Hermione in. "Were it anyone else, I'd tell them to bugger off. But I guess I should give you some respect, having killed that son-of-a-bitch Voldemort and all. Who's she?"

"Hermione Weasley. She's with the Ministry, too. She's helping me on this case."

Basham grunted. "Well, sit down." He waved them over to an old sagging sofa with a layer of dust on it. In fact, the whole apartment seemed coated in layers of dust and grim.

Harry winced as he sat down. A hazy cloud of dust sprang up around him, causing him to sneeze. He scowled. His robes would need a good washing when he got home.

_And so will I._

"Um, I think I'll stand, thank you." Hermione stood three paces behind the sofa, cringing as she stared at it.

Basham pulled up a rickety wooden chair and sat a couple meters from Harry. "So. You say the Stacyx are back, eh?"

"That's right. Luna, Mister Lovegood's daughter, told us you fought them once before."

"That I did, boy. That I did."

"What are they? Where do they come from?"

The old man folded his hands in his lap. "What they are is evil. Where they come from, no one knows. I have my theories, though."

Basham leaned forward. "Television was invented by the Muggles in the 1920s. It didn't really start becoming popular until the late thirties, early forties. After my first encounter with the Stacyx, I started doing research into television, the science behind it. You see, boy, television signals travel all over the world. They even go into space. I believe that some of these television signals may have latched on to magical energy fields throughout the Wizarding World."

"How is that possible?" Hermione canted her head.

"No idea, young lady. But I think that blending of energy turned television programs into entire alternate universes. You may be watching _Andy Pandy _or _Quatermass,_ but when those shows end, the characters continue living their own lives. But along with creating these new universes, it somehow gave birth to the Stacyx."

"So how do they kill Muggles?" Harry rubbed his hands on his pants. "In all the reports I've seen, there are no signs of violence on any of the victims."

"And there wouldn't be. They get you up here." Basham tapped a finger against his temple. "Psychic powers, boy. The Stacyx, they feed on human brain waves."

"What for?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"That's how they maintain their powers. They wait, behind TV screens, wait for Muggles to sit down and watch the telly. There have been studies done that show when Muggles watch TV, their brains produce what's called low alpha waves. What it does is slow down brain activity, almost to a comatose state. The Stacyx can't penetrate an active brain, but a brain that's inactive, they can slip inside and extract every single brain wave from their victim."

"So what do they use these brain waves for?" asked Harry.

"They can use it to enhance their strength. Some of the Stacyx I came across had to be three times stronger than a human being. They can also fire these psychokinetic bolts from their heads. Mind blasts I called them."

"I saw all that myself last night."

Basham nodded and went on. "But the most dangerous bit about them, if they siphon off enough human brain waves, they can actually open a portal between the TV world and our world."

Harry cocked his head to the side. "But wouldn't they have to do that anyway to get people's brain waves in the first place?"

"Not necessarily," said Hermione. "Remember the Diversus Cubes we used in Astronomy Class in our Sixth Year? The energy needed to move a physical object from one world to another would be much greater than simply transmitting a ghost image between worlds."

"Yes, you're a smart one, aren't you?" Basham flashed her a brief smile. "And that's what the Stacyx tried to do. Absorb enough brain waves to open portals all over the U.K. and invade our world. But they needed to do it in one coordinated attack. With all the different programs and channels and people tuning in and turning off constantly that would be hard to do. So they had to wait until there was one program that the vast majority of the country would watch. And in 1953, they had that opportunity when the coronation of Queen Elizabeth was televised. Over twenty million Muggles were watching that day."

"How did you stop them?" Harry leaned forward.

"It wasn't easy. I had to go into their world. Quite the experience. It wasn't only British programs I wound up in, but shows from America, France, Canada. I even recruited some television characters to help me fight the Stacyx. Robin Hood, the one played by Patrick Troughton, before he went on to star in _Doctor Who_. Superman, the one played by George Reeves. The Cisco Kid. Actually, I had lots of cowboys with me. The Yanks were obsessed with cowboys back in the fifties. Anyway, we managed to lure them into this documentary on the _Titanic._ They all went down with the ship. Not very good swimmers, thank God. And that's how yours truly saved the country. Saved the entire world for that matter."

"You can't prove any of this, I suppose?" Hermione folded her arms.

Basham sneered at her. "What I just told you is one hundred percent true."

"Then how come we couldn't find any record of the Stacyx or your encounter with them in any books or files at the Ministry of Magic?"

"Oh, you have the Minister of Magic back then to thank for that."

The sneer on Basham's face became more pronounced. "You thought Cornelius Fudge was dreadful, you should have seen the way Elias Gridley ran things. That sorry excuse for a wizard was an unabashed bigot."

"How so?" asked Harry.

"He was a Muggle hater. Had no use for them. Same for Muggle-borns. Thought they were lower than the ground a dragon drops its dung on. He tried to purge the Ministry of us."

"You're Muggle-born?"

Basham nodded at Hermione. "And proud of it. Gridley looked for any excuse to fire Muggle-borns. Almost got rid of me a few times, but the head of the Aurors Office argued on my behalf. At the time, I sent more dark wizards and witches to Azkaban than any other auror. Hard to sack a man with that record . . . until the Stacyx came along."

Basham slumped back in his chair. "I told Gridley we should send more aurors into the television world, make sure all the Stacyx were dead. He didn't want to hear it. It was only Muggles at risk, after all. And that's when he saw his opening to get rid of me. He claimed I made the whole thing up. He even destroyed all records of the incident."

Basham paused, fire blazing in his ancient eyes. "Gridley fired me, but that wasn't enough for the old bastard. He spread all sorts of lies about me. Accused me of drunkenness and mental instability. Said I'd spent a stretch at the mental ward at St. Mungo's. He ruined my reputation. I tried fighting back, campaigning to get him out of office, and all the while getting my hands on televisions, just in case the Stacyx tried to invade our world again."

"What happened with Gridley?" Hermione asked.

"Voted out of office three years later. So that just left me to search for any surviving Stacyx. I spent thirty years journeying through shows, enlisting the aid of hundreds of television and movie characters. James Bond, Captain Kirk, Batman, the first five Doctors, Marshal Dillon, Napoleon Solo. We never found a trace of the Stacyx. If I thought a broadcast would have an exceptionally large audience, I'd watch it, just in case. The first moon landing, various Olympics, Charles and Diana's wedding, Who Shot J.R. But nothing happened. Finally I convinced myself I indeed finished them all off on that _Titanic_ documentary. Then I looked back and realized I'd wasted over thirty years of my life, and had nothing to look forward to. No job, no family. I could have had one. I was engaged back then. After I was fired, she stuck by me . . . for a while. She started to worry I was becoming too obsessed with Gridley and the Stacyx. Then . . ." Basham bit his lip. "Then she started to question whether the Stacyx were real. Question my integrity. Buy into all those lies that maggot Gridley put out there. December 21st, 1953. That's when she left me. Hell of a way to celebrate Christmas time. But maybe I should have seen it coming. My fiancé was never one to accept anything on someone's mere word, even if that someone was the person she loved. But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, boy."

Harry furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry. What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you know exactly what my fiancé's like."

Harry chewed on the inside of his cheek. Who the hell was Basham talking about?

"She was one of your professors at Hogwarts. And now she's running the place."

Shock froze Harry's next breath in his chest. His mind shut down, unable to accept the fact.

Bentley Basham had been engaged to Professor McGonagall.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The pronunciation of the TV monsters is _Sta-six._ The Biloko are dwarf-like creatures of African folklore. Calliope is the name of the Greek muse of epic poetry. The Diversus Cube Hermione refers to is featured in my fanfic _Walking Through Worlds._ Next up, Harry enlists more old friends to help track down the Stacyx.


	5. Chapter 5

"Professor McGonagall was actually engaged to him?" Hermione nodded back to Bentley Basham's flat as they headed for the stairs. "I just can't imagine it."

"I can't imagine Professor McGonagall being engaged to anyone period," replied Harry.

"We were around her for seven years and she never gave any hint of it. Come to think of it, she never mentioned anything about having any family."

Harry nodded as he set foot on the first rickety step. He didn't know why the idea of McGonagall having a family seemed strange to him. His old professors were people too. Surely McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and the rest had families. Did he really think teaching was the only thing they ever did? That they didn't go home to spouses and children like he and Hermione did each night?

When they reached the bottom, the creaky staircase not having collapsed thank God, Harry suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Harry!" Hermione nearly tripped over herself to keep from crashing into him. "Watch it!"

But he didn't reply. He just kept gazing up the staircase.

"What is it?"

His mouth curled. "Just thinking about Professor McGonagall leaving Basham. Look how they both turned out. She's Headmistress of Hogwarts and he's living in this dump."

"And you think what happened to him is her fault?"

Harry's shoulders sagged. "I don't know. But he did have a point. I mean, I like Professor McGonagall, but let's face it. She's not the most . . . open-minded person we know. And to just abandon him . . ."

"You heard what Basham said." Hermione stepped onto the landing. "He became obsessed with bringing down Gridley and finding any surviving Stacyx."

"McGonagall could have helped him. I mean, if she really loved him."

"Who's saying she didn't? Harry, sometimes things happen. People change or they grow apart. It happened to you and Cho Chang."

Harry scowled, refusing to accept that excuse. He thought of all the situations where Ron, Hermione and Ginny stuck it out with him when others would have said, "enough of this." Why couldn't McGonagall have done the same for poor Bentley Basham?

"I don't know. I just feel if you love someone, you shouldn't run out on them when things get tough."

"Harry, whatever happened is between Professor McGonagall and Mister Basham. Quite frankly, we have more important things to worry about. Like stopping the Stacyx."

Harry sighed. "Of course. You're right. Now that we know about these things, we need to come up with a plan to deal with them."

"Can we do it back at your office?" Hermione's nose crinkled from the pungent stench creeping in from the outside.

"You won't hear an argument from me."

The two Apparated back to the Ministry of Magic, or rather just outside it, since security measures prevented anyone from Apparating directly into the building. Minutes later, they sat in Harry's office.

"First thing to do," Hermione shifted in her seat, "is figure out how to locate the Stacyx."

"We can probably use the television I brought back from the house in Lambeth. I've got it in a secure vault in one of the sub-basements. We can use it to enter their world."

"And then what? Go through show after show trying to find them? Basham spent thirty years doing that and never found a single Stacyx."

Harry rested his arms his desk. "But they probably weren't as active back then as they are now. Maybe if we enter their world, start exploring, we can draw them to us."

"That sounds pretty risky. Besides, it wouldn't be just the Stacyx we'd have to worry about. Remember what Basham said about how they can control certain TV characters. They could use them to attack us. And you don't watch television, so you wouldn't know what to expect from them."

Harry frowned and steepled his fingers under his chin. Hermione was right. What that Bogeyman lunatic on _ECW_ did took him completely by surprise, and Ginny almost choked on worms because of it. If he was going back into the TV world, he wouldn't go in blind.

"Well, we'll have to get someone familiar with television programs," said Harry. "Most likely some Muggle-borns. What about you?"

Hermione shook her head. "Sorry. I don't watch television either. Well, except for _Coupling._ That is rather humorous."

Harry shrugged, not knowing anything about the program.

He chewed on his lip. Who could he get to help familiarize him with TV programs?

Two names came to mind.

**XXXXX**

"Wow, Harry. I can't believe you need our help with something."

Harry managed a smile as he stared across his desk at the young man with wide eyes and a boyish face. He could never get over how much Dennis Creevey resembled his deceased older brother.

"Well, when it comes to Muggle television, you guys know a lot more than either myself or Hermione."

"I still can't believe it." Dean Thomas shook his head. "Monsters that live inside the telly. I swear as soon as I get home I'm going to put security charms around our set. No Stacyx is going to suck out my kids' brains."

"That's probably a good idea." Harry nodded. "Oh, did you finish those sketches I asked for?"

"Got them right here." Dean pulled out some parchment from a folder and handed them to Harry. His eyes widened with amazement. His old roommate had drawn a very good rendition of a Stacyx.

"Nice work, Dean." He now knew why his friend was the chief cover designer for Wizarding publishing company Envigor.

Dean grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Okay." Harry showed the sketches to Hermione. "When we go into a program, we can show these to the characters, see if anyone has seen the Stacyx."

"Oh, good one, Harry. Just like on Muggle detective shows."

Harry gave Dennis a brief nod. He set the sketches down on his desk and looked at both Dean and Dennis. "All right, now so me and Hermione know what we might be dealing with in the TV world, we need you to give us information on every program you can think of."

Dean and Dennis turned to one another with astonished looks. When they returned their eyes to Harry, Dean spoke. "Harry, you do realize there are probably thousands of different programs out there. We could spend hours, days even, filling you in on them."

"Just some brief descriptions will do, so I'll know what to expect."

"Um . . ." Dennis raised a hand. "I think it might be easier if we went with you."

Harry's eyes locked on Dennis. Invisible fingers pressed down on his stomach as he pictured Dennis' dead brother with his ever-present smile and camera.

"Thanks for the offer, but Hermione and I can handle this."

"But I want to help." Dennis looked crest-fallen. "_We_ want to help." He turned to Dean, who nodded.

"Look, I appreciate it, guys. I really do. But neither of you are aurors."

"But we are D.A."

"Dennis, that was ten years ago."

"Once in the D.A., always in the D.A. That's what I say. I even still carry around my coin." Dennis referred to the galleons Hermione came up with so D.A. members could communicate with one another.

"This is going to be dangerous," Harry said firmly.

Dean shrugged. "So was every year we spent at Hogwarts."

"Dean, you have a wife and two children, and a third on the way. You have to think about them."

"I am, Harry." The smile vanished from Dean's face. "If these Stacyx things come into our world, you think they're just going to leave my family alone? We all fought and defeated Voldemort so our children could grow up in a better world. I'm not going to let these Stacyx destroy everything we fought for."

Harry's jaw stiffened. A sense of pride swelled within him. He'd never known Dean to be so passionate.

_But having a wife and kids will do that to a man._

"All right. You're in."

"Hey!" Dennis blurted. "We are a package deal."

Harry sighed, staring at the surviving Creevey brother. "I don't know."

"Don't know what? Dean wants to protect his family, so do I. I don't want the Stacyx hurting my parents. Besides, it makes sense to have two experts on Muggle television shows with you, just in case something happens to one of us."

A chill went up Harry's spine. A vivid image of Oliver Wood and Neville Longbottom carrying Colin Creevey's dead little body through the corridors of Hogwarts burned in his mind.

"Wha-What about your parents?"

A quizzical look came over Dennis' face. "What about them? I'm twenty-two. I don't need a permission form from them to go with you. And I also don't want them to end up like all those other Muggles the Stacyx killed."

Despite his best efforts, Harry couldn't ignore Dennis' steely gaze and firm expression. The young man was determined to fight, just like his brother.

_And look where that got him._

But Dennis' reasons had nothing to do with the hero worship Colin displayed toward Harry. He wanted to fight for his family, as did Dean. Could he deny them that?

Plus what they said did make sense. It would be easier to have them on-hand in the TV world, ready to offer advice, instead of relying on notes from them.

"All right. You're both in."

Dean and Dennis smiled wide and high-fived one another.

"But . . ." Harry pointed a finger at them. "I'm in charge, and you two _will_ do exactly what I say, got it?"

Dean drew his head back in surprise. "Sure thing, Dad."

Harry shot him a stern look.

"So . . ." Dennis rubbed his hands together. "What's the plan?"

"We'll use the TV I got from the house in Lambeth to enter the Stacyx world. Honestly, I'm not sure how successful that will be. It's been two days since that one Stacyx used it to enter our world. It could be anywhere by now. But right now it's the best option we've got."

"If we're going to stroll through a bunch of shows, do we have a way to make sure we don't get lost? I don't know about the rest of you, but if I get stuck in a rerun of _The Smurfs_ I may have to slit my wrists."

"I've got that covered." Hermione turned in her chair to face Dean. "We set up a series of Locator Charms with arrows, our names and the names of the program to show the way back through all the portals we use."

Harry held his breath, tension clenching all his muscles. His gaze slowly shifted from Hermione to Dean to Dennis. Moments later he forced his mouth to work.

"Well, I guess we're all set."

Palms flat on his desk, Harry pushed himself to his feet. "Let's do this."

**NEXT: **_It's crossover time!_


	6. Chapter 6

Harry's hand flexed around his wand. His heart pumped furiously as he entered the vault. The distorted reflections of him, Hermione, Dean and Dennis played on the smooth obsidian walls.

The television sat in the middle of the room. Ghost-like blue and white tendrils of light circled the set. Some spells kept the portal stable in the event Harry needed to enter it again, while others were to warn of any Stacyx trying to enter this world.

Harry waved his wand and uttered the appropriate incantation. The white strands of energy merged and flared so brightly he had to avert his eyes. When he looked back, a portal nearly blotted out the TV set.

He glanced over his shoulder at his three friends. A nervous shudder went through him. Part of him would rather do this alone, but he knew he wouldn't be able to find the Stacyx without help.

His eyes lingered on Dennis longer than the others. He should have known better than to ask him here.

"Well?" Dean held out his hands, an expectant look on his face. "Are we gonna just stand around or are we gonna go in?"

Harry's lips tightened. "Right then. Let's go."

He stepped toward the portal.

"I got dibs on Buffy the Vampire Slayer if we wind up on that show," Dennis said gleefully.

"I'm married, mate," Dean replied. "Have at her."

Holding his breath, Harry stepped into the white light.

"_You know you make me wanna shout!"_

Harry nearly took a step back when the stench of sweat and beer hit him. Music from a live band blared through the room, packed with men and women in togas jumping up and down.

"No way!" Dean's head whipped around. "We're in _Animal House!"_

Harry could barely hear him over the loud music. He turned to his friends and waved them forward.

Progress was maddeningly slow with so many bodies crammed together. Saying "excuse me" did nothing create even the tiniest of gaps in the crowd.

Someone stumbled out of the mass of humanity. A chubby guy with mussed black hair and two days worth of stubble on his face. He nearly fell over a chair containing a man and woman snogging fiercely.

"Excuse me!" Harry slid over to the man. "Excuse me, Sir."

The chubby man waddled around. The expression on his face resembled something between half-asleep and half-sick.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you've seen this creature." Harry held up the sketch of the Stacyx.

The man stared at the sketch, looked up at Harry . . .

And belched, long and loud. The stale smell of beer breath washed over Harry's face. He turned away, grimacing.

"No," the chubby man grumbled. He stumbled away, blurting, "I need more beer!"

Harry shot the fat idiot a scowl. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and noticed Dean next to him.

"Wow, Harry. Bluto just belched right in your face."

"Yeah, it was thrilling. Come on."

The four made their way slowly through the crowd, showing the Stacyx sketch to several people. No one had seen the creature. Of course, from the drunken looks on their faces, a Hungarian Horntail could have stomped through the room and they wouldn't have noticed.

"Hey, sweetheart!"

Harry spun around. A tall rather good-looking man in a toga flung his arm around Hermione's shoulder.

"You wanna go upstairs and get naked?"

Hermione's jaw fell open. Her face went pale.

Dean laughed. "Oh man. Otter's hitting on Hermione."

The man, Otter, beamed at Hermione and waggled his eyebrows.

Harry shook his head. He moved toward the guy.

Suddenly Hermione spun in front of Otter.

_What's she up to?_

Otter cheered and wrapped both arms around Hermione.

She drove her knee into his crotch.

Otter's eyes rolled back into his head. Harry, Dean and Dennis all clenched their legs together and grimaced as Otter sank to his knees, gasping for air.

A seething Hermione grabbed a handful of the guy's hair. "DON'T EVER PUT YOUR DAMN FILTHY HANDS ON ME AGAIN!"

She shoved him. Otter crumpled on the floor, curled up in a fetal position.

Hermione stormed away from him, teeth bared. "We're going to another show." She glowered at Harry, Dean and Dennis. "These . . . people are useless."

None of them argued with her.

Hermione led them out of the decrepit house and through the yard. Harry wrinkled his nose. Why did the yard smell like urine?

Using her wand, Hermione tracked down another portal in the concourse of the football stadium. Harry held his breath and led the others into it.

Darkness gave way to a brightly lit hallway. Dozens of men and women walked to and fro with a sense of purpose, many wearing white smocks over their clothes.

"Looks like we wound up in a Muggle hospital," Dean stated.

Harry turned to him. "Any idea which show this is?"

"Not yet."

They proceeded down the hallway. Harry stopped a few doctors and nurses and showed them the sketch of the Stacyx. They all answered, "No," and gave him and his friends queer looks.

"Let's try that fellow." Hermione pointed to a tall bearded man in a dark rumpled suit and walking with a cane.

"Oooh." Dennis cringed. "That may not be such a good idea."

"Why?" Hermione's forehead crinkled. "Is he evil?"

"No, he's not evil. But . . ."

"Then we'll ask him." Harry set off after the man. He caught up to him before he could turn into the next corridor.

"Excuse me."

The man turned around. He canted his head and ran his eyes up and down Harry robes. "So is this the new uniform they're making interns wear?"

"Um, no. My name's Harry Potter."

"Oh, you're name's Harry Potter. And the reason I should care is . . ." He waved his hand in a circle.

Annoyance flickered inside Harry. _What's his problem?_ "Look, I'm with . . . um, The Government." He hoped using the line Dean Winchester used in _Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide_ would set this man at ease.

"Oh, well no wonder you have to make your clothes from potato sacks. Who could afford real clothes on a bureaucrat's salary?"

Harry clenched his teeth. This man, a Dr. House according to his gold nametag, was really trying his patience.

"Look, we're hunting this creature." He shoved the sketch in House's face. "Have you seen it?"

House leaned closer, his face almost pressed against the parchment. "Have _you_ seen it?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes. I have."

"Uh-huh." House peered around the parchment at Harry. "You know, I've got some free time between three and three-fifteen today. Why don't you swing by for a CAT scan? I'd love to see what's in that head of yours, if for no other reason than it'll give me a good laugh."

House spun around and waved to Harry. "Oh, and if I run into Bigfoot and the Tooth Fairy, I'll be sure to send them your way."

Harry watched the git of a doctor walk away through narrow eyes.

"I should've warned you, Harry," Dean said. "That's Doctor House. Not the most pleasant fellow in the world."

"Why would anyone make a show about such a rude person?" Hermione threw out her hands.

Dennis shrugged. "I think he's funny."

Deciding _House_ was a lost cause, Hermione led them to another portal, located in the hospital's basement. They stepped through it . . .

. . . and found themselves in the playground of a computer animated school.

"Where are we now?" Harry surveyed the area.

Someone screamed. Harry whirled around, wand at the ready.

A fat red-headed boy quaked in terror and pointed a trembling finger at them. "We're being invaded by aliens again!"

The boy screamed even louder and ran away.  
"Wow!" A boy with an obscenely large head covered by coiffed black hair strode up to them. "An interdimensional portal! Awesome! Did you build it or is it naturally occurring?"

The corners of Harry's mouth twitched. "Um, natural."

"Well, on behalf of the people of this world, let me welcome you. I'm Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius."

"Nice to meet you. Is your friend going to be okay?" Hermione nodded in the direction the fat boy ran off.

"Oh, don't worry about Carl. An ant farm scares him. Now, about this portal . . ."

The boy spewed out all sorts of science-sounding words that made Harry scrunch his face in confusion. Even Hermione couldn't follow everything he was saying.

"For crying out loud, Nerd-tron. Quit annoying the people from another dimension before they get mad and decide blow up our world." A blond girl with a perpetual scowl sauntered over to them. Behind her was a goofy-looking dark-haired boy in a blue t-shirt.

"Cindy, do you mind? I'm trying to establish first contact with beings from another universe."

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, but we really don't have time for this." He held up the sketch. "Have any of you seen this creature."

The goofy-looking boy bolted over to them, staring at the sketch with wide eyes. "Oh wow! Yeah! I saw this thing."

Anticipation surged through Harry. "You have? Where?"

"Last week on _Ultra Lord._ It was the episode where Ultra Lord fought the evil Borgolons, who use their strange powers to turn people into limburger cheese."

Harry's jaw dropped. So did Hermione's. The boy just stared at them smiling, then said. "I know. The official _Ultra Lord _web site listed it as one of the top five episodes ever."

Harry closed his eyes, fighting the urge to scream. He looked at his friends. "I think it's time to move on."

They all nodded, saying, "Yeah." "Good idea."

Harry stomped away from the cartoon characters, Hermione, Dean and Dennis right behind him.

"Good going, Shane," Jimmy Neutron scolded his friend. "Now they'll probably never want to come back to this world."

Hermione tracked down another portal behind a round building called The Candy Bar. They wound up on the grounds of another school, this one with guys dressed mostly in black and girls in pink jackets. They ignored Harry as he tried to show him the Stacyx sketch, too busy singing some nonsensical song.

"_You're the one that I want! Woo-hoo-hoo!"_

"Ugh. _Grease."_ An unpleasant look formed on Dennis' face. "I never was one for musicals."

Harry slapped his hands against his sides. "This is getting us nowhere. We may wind up going through a hundred shows and never find a trace of the Stacyx."

"Maybe we should split up . . . hey!" Hermione had to jump out of the way as two singing men performed ballet-like leaps and nearly knocked her down.

"Watch it!"

The men ignored her, still singing and dancing.

Hermione grunted and turned back to Harry. "As I was saying, we should split up so we can cover more ground."

"I don't know. Against these things we might be better off sticking together."

"Harry, we need to find these creatures as soon as possible before they kill more people. We have a better chance of doing that if we split up."

Harry slowly worked his jaw back and forth. Seconds later he sighed. "All right then."

"Good. Dennis and I will head back to that cartoon show and find another portal there, you and Dean can go ahead from here."

Dennis visibly frowned. Harry felt torn by the pairing. He never felt comfortable with the Creevey brothers' hero worship of him, but he also didn't want to let Dennis out of his sight.

_Hermione can look after him well enough._

Hermione and Dennis went back into the portal they'd just come through. Harry held out his wand and located another portal in the boys' locker room.

He and Dean emerged in the deserted hallway of yet another school.

"No one about. What now?" Dean asked.

"Let's check it out before we move on to the next show."

Wands extended, the two started down the hallway. They checked a few classrooms and offices, but found no sign of anyone.

"So how's Ginny and James doing?" Dean asked as they turned into another hallway.

Harry paused and swallowed. "Um, their fine. What about your kids?"

Dean grinned wide. "Calliope is staring to walk on her own. And little Castor, he can't go one day without asking fifty questions on just about everything. Takes after his mum, that one does. I tell you, though, they can be a handful."

"Yeah. It's the same with James. I can only imagine what he'll be like when he gets older."

"Well, you're lucky to have Ginny. I'm sure she'll keep him in line."

Harry bit his lip and stared at the ground for a few moments. He drew a slow breath. "Dean. You know we really never talked about . . ."

Dean turned to him with a quizzical look. "Talked about what?"

Harry paused, rolling his wand in his hand. "Me and Ginny. _You _and Ginny."

Dean drew back in surprise. "Harry, that was, like, ten years ago. Trust me, I got over it."

"It's just . . . I started having feelings for Ginny while you guys were going out. And when you broke up . . . you have no idea how conflicted I was. I loved her, but she was Ron's sister. And you're my friend and I didn't want to hurt you."

"Okay, yeah I didn't like seeing you and Ginny together at first. But we broke up and, you got her fair and square, mate."

"That's just it. I didn't."

"What are you on about?" Dean canted his head.

Harry's stomach twisted in knots. He didn't want to say it. Dean had been one of his most loyal friends, one of the few who believed him about Voldemort's return at the start of their Fifth Year. Did he want to risk fourteen years of friendship?

He turned away, took a slow breath, and forced himself to look at Dean.

"The night you and Ginny broke up, I was sneaking off to Hagrid's cabin. Before I did, I took some of the Felix Felicis potion."

"The luck potion you got from Professor Slughorn?"

Harry nodded. "I had on my invisibility cloak and was going through the portrait hole when you and Ginny were coming through and . . . and I accidentally brushed against Ginny. That's when she yelled at you not to push her, and you started arguing and . . ."

He stopped when he saw a stony expression on Dean's face. His friend stared at him in uncomfortable silence for several seconds.

Harry's eyes fell to the floor. "I'm sorry, Dean." He practically mumbled. "I didn't mean . . . no, maybe I did mean for it to happen. I should have told you what happened sooner, but you've always been a good friend. I just couldn't bring myself to say anything."

Harry kept staring at the floor, waiting for Dean to say something.

The silence continued. For a moment, Harry wondered if Dean would walk over and belt him. He wouldn't stop him if he tried. He probably deserved it.

He heard Dean sigh. Harry looked up to see his friend shake his head.

"You know, Harry, maybe if you'd told me this ten years ago, I would have knocked your head off. But honestly, things had been going sour between me and Ginny long before that night. Besides, it's all in the past now."

"Maybe. But part of me has always felt bad about it."

"Of course you do." Dean stepped closer to him. "That's been one of your biggest problems since I've known you."

"What?"

"You beat yourself up over everything. For crying out loud, the whole thing with Ginny was nearly ten years ago. If anything I should thank you if you had something to do with me and Ginny splitting up. I wound up with Luna, who I love more than anything. She gave me two children, and is about to give me a third. I'd say everything worked out . . . for all of us."

All the tension that had squeezed Harry's muscles melted away. He looked up at Dean with a half-smile. "Thanks, Dean."

Dean slapped him on the shoulder. "Anytime, mate. Now, shall we go track down these Stacyx, or do you want us to hug and cry on one another's shoulder like a couple girls?"

Harry chuckled. "I vote for the Stacyx."

The two set off down the hallway. Again they found no sign of people or Stacyx. They turned into another hallway.

"Ssh!" Harry stopped and held up a hand. "Do you hear that?"  
Dean scrunched his forehead and concentrated. "It sounds like music."

The faint echoes of music floated down the hallway. Harry and Dean followed it to a door marked GYMNASIUM. Before they reached it, the music stopped, replaced by laughter.

"Wonder what's going on in there?" Harry nodded to the double doors.

"If they're laughing I doubt there's any Stacyx in there."

Harry gripped his wand with his right hand and grabbed the door handle with his left. He opened it and went inside, followed by Dean.

The gym was packed with well-dressed men and women. It reminded Harry of the Yule Ball he attended in his Fourth Year. Everyone in the gym was staring in the direction of the stage and laughing. Harry followed their gaze. Standing under a spotlight was a thin girl drenched in a red liquid substance.

"Is that woman covered in blood?"

Harry waited for Dean to reply. When the seconds of silence dragged on, he turned to his friend.

Dean gazed at the blood-soaked girl with a horrified expression. His chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Dean? You all right?"

Dean's head snapped toward him, his eyes blazing with fear.

"Harry, we have to get out of here?"

"Why? What's -"

"NOW!"

The urgency in his friend's voice propelled his legs into motion. Dean bolted for the open door, Harry on his heels. What was it about this show that had Dean so scared?"

The door suddenly slammed shut. Dean grabbed the handle and pulled on it desperately.

"Dammit! She locked us in!"

Harry turned around. The bloody girl whipped her head in all directions. Doors banged shut and windows slammed closed. The young men and women started to panic. Some of them hurried to the doors.

Strong gusts of wind ripped through the gym. Dozens of people toppled over. Separate screams merged into one terrifying cry that filled the gym.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here!"

Dean aimed his wand at the door.

An invisible hand grabbed Harry and yanked him off the ground. Dean yelped as the same force flung him away from the door. They crashed onto the hardwood floor. Pain hammered Harry's back. He grimaced and sat up.

A fire hose rose of its own accord, spraying men and women trying to climb out a window. Harry gazed at the bloody girl, her bulging eyes aimed at the hose. Somehow she was controlling all this.

_Gotta stop her._

Harry lifted his right hand.

His wand was gone.

He looked back at the door and swallowed. Both his wand and Dean's lay on the floor. Harry struggled to his feet and headed for the wands.

The gymnasium burst into flames.

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some intense violence and course language in this chapter. You have been warned.

* * *

**The screams pierced Harry's ears, screams of fear and agony. The worst summer day he'd ever experienced couldn't match the heat that now enveloped him. Sweat soaked his face. He coughed from the smoke. 

A stench filled his nostrils. Something akin to burnt meat.

Bile rose into his throat. It was burnt meat, but that meat was human flesh.

The tortured screams tore at his soul. Harry stared around the burning gym. Men and women engulfed in flames ran and flailed. Some fell over tables. Others simply dropped to the floor, never to rise again.

And Harry was helpless to save them.

_I need my wand._ He looked back to the gymnasium doors he and Dean had entered. Fire raged around them. His heart hammered when he noticed two slender sticks in the midst of the flames.

Their wands.

Fear swelled inside him. Regular fire shouldn't damage their wands . . . if this was indeed regular fire. But it would burn him or Dean if they tried to get them.

Harry coughed again. Dean pushed himself up on all fours and hacked, sweat glistening from his face.

Something wet seeped under Harry's hand. His head snapped down. He prayed it wasn't blood.

Water pooled under his hand. He followed the puddle to a nearby table.

The hose the bloody girl had used to spray people away from the window lay on the floor, still pumping water.

Harry scrambled to his feet . . . and slipped on the wet floor.

Out the corner of his eye the blood-soaked girl glided down the steps of the stage.

Harry coughed, pawing at the wet floor, dragging himself to the hose.

The girl reached the last step. A chill went up Harry's spine as he glimpsed those large eyes of hers. Didn't she ever blink?

Just a couple meters away, Harry made a desperate lunge for the hose. He grabbed it and aimed it at the gymnasium doors. A stream of water splattered against the floor and the doors. Harry held the hose in a death grip, working it back and forth. The flames began to diminish.

"Dean! The wands! Get our wands!"

Dean nodded and scrambled for their wands. Harry turned the hose away from his friend.

The girl approached, her unblinking eyes aimed right at him.

Harry swung the hose toward her. An invisible force ripped it from his hands.

He glimpsed Dean picking up his wand . . . and letting out a loud yelp. The wand jumped from his hand, which Dean held against his chest as he grimaced.

Harry cursed under his breath. Did he really think the wands would be cool to touch after sitting in a fire?

The girl moved closer to him. Harry slid back on his rear. Images of James and Ginny formed in his mind. He tried to comfort himself with the fact if anything happened to him, little James would at least have one parent to look after him.

"_Stupify!"_

A blue flash illuminated the bloody girl. Harry whipped his head around.

With part of his robes wrapped around his hand, Dean gripped his wand.

"_Stupify!"_

Another Stunning Spell hit the girl. She stumbled, but did not go down.

Harry got to his feet and hurried toward Dean. He pulled the sleeve of his robes over his right hand and picked up his wand. Even through the cloth it felt uncomfortably hot.

Dean hit the girl with another Stunning Spell. It barely slowed her down.

Harry aimed his wand at the floor. _"Redacto!"_

Part of the floor caved in. Harry looked through the hole and saw a basement below them.

"Dean! Come on!"

Dean jumped through the hole, followed by Harry.

"_Leviosa!" _Harry shouted. He and Dean floated the rest of the way, landing gently on the floor.

"What insane show is this?" Harry stared up through the hole, the flames casting eerie shadows.

"_Carrie."_ Dean ran a sleeve over his sweaty brow. "I swear if we get out of this alive I'll never watch another bloody Stephen King movie again."

Harry turned to his friend to say something. His mouth started to open when a blue bolt of energy snaked overhead and shot up through the hole.

"What the hell was that?" Dean stammered.

Harry held his breath. The last time he saw a bolt like that was during his first encounter with a Stacyx, when it used one to take over that Bogeyman wrestler.

Teeth clenched, Harry looked past Dean's shoulder. The breath caught in his throat when he saw a tall silhouette standing in the doorway of the basement.

The Stacyx stared at them with its blood red eyes. Moments later a sinister, phlegm-soaked chortle bubbled up from its throat.

"Harry!" Dean pointed to the hole.

He snapped his head back.

Carrie peered down at them with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Come on!" He gave Dean a none-to-gentle shove to the back, propelling him toward the door. The Stacyx slipped out of view, it malevolent laughter echoing off the walls.

A horrendous crash sounded behind them. Both Harry and Dean turned around.

The ceiling collapsed. Flaming debris crashed to the floor. More of the ceiling crumbled, the fireballs of wood and concrete landing closer to them.

"GO!! GO!! GO!!" Harry yelled.

"I'M GOING!!" Dean hollered back.

The two dashed out of the basement. Chunks of fiery debris continued to fall. Harry felt little specks of sizzling shrapnel penetrate his robes. He swatted at them with his hand, running the entire time.

They rounded the corner into a darkened corridor with piping above them. The crash of debris didn't stop. A crushing pain gripped Harry's lungs. His legs grew heavy. Still he kept running. To stop meant death.

"Harry!" Dean's arm shot out, pointing at an open door down the hallway. White light spilled out into the hallway.

"Go for it!" Harry strained to suck down more oxygen. He ignored the pain in his chest and legs and sprinted for the open door. The back of his legs suddenly felt hot. He glanced behind him.

Flames licked the bottom of his robes.

More flaming debris crashed to the floor. Harry and Dean skidded to a stop in front of the door.

A portal hovered inside the closet.

Harry pushed Dean forward. The ceiling collapsed right where they had stood a second before. Brilliant white light blotted out Harry's vision.

They emerged outside in the sun. Harry bent over, hands on both knees, and breathed deep. His heart pounded so heart he expected it to explode.

"Harry!" Dean said breathlessly. He aimed his wand at the back of Harry's robes.

"_Aqua!"_ A jet of water shot out of Dean's wand and doused the flames burning the bottom of Harry's robes.

"Thanks, Dean. Now, let's see where we are."

He looked around. From the large buildings in the distance they had to be in some large city. Several police cars and a large blue van with the word SWAT on the side blocked the street they stood on. He spotted a few policemen – American from the look of their uniforms – standing outside a building with the words 3RD NATIONAL BANK etched into its stone façade. They held onto three handcuffed men, but their focus was on something else across the street. Harry followed their gaze.

The Stacyx tromped down the sidewalk, stopping when a policeman jumped in front of it.

"Freeze!" He aimed his revolver at the Stacyx.

The creature's arm lashed out. The cop flew through the air, crashed onto the hood of a police car and bounced onto the ground.

"What the hell is that thing?" a stout black man in a blue nylon uniform pointed at the Stacyx.

"Whatever it is, shoot it!" ordered a tall, lean man.

More men in blue nylon uniforms raised M-16 rifles and open fire. The Stacyx ducked behind a station wagon as bullets shattered windows and chewed up brick storefronts.

Harry and Dean ducked behind a police car. Dean peered from behind the trunk, then turned to Harry. "We're on that show _SWAT_." He pointed to the men shooting at the Stacyx. "That's their leader Hondo. And those guys are Deacon, Lucca, Street and McKay. They may actually be able to help us."

Harry nodded and crawled to the hood of the car. He poked his head around it and saw the Stacyx rise. A mind blast flashed from its skull and struck a police car. The vehicle flipped over in the air several times. The SWAT officers Street and Lucca rolled out of the way before it crashed onto the asphalt.

"_Stupify!"_ Harry fired a Stunning Spell at the Stacyx, but missed.

The creature swung around in Harry's direction. It fired another mind blast. This one lifted a beat up green car into the air . . . and right at Harry!

"_Repulsus!"_

An orange flash lit up the car. It reversed direction back at the Stacyx. But a second mind blast ripped the car in two. The pieces crashed to the ground.

The Stacyx whirled around and ran off.

Harry and Dean followed. They reached the sidewalk when the tall SWAT leader, Hondo, appeared in front of them.

"Who are you two?" The other members of his team hurried over to him.

Harry bit his lower lip. Dammit, he didn't have time to explain everything. They needed to get that Stacyx.

But Dean spoke up before he could. "Um . . . Agents Dean Thomas and Harry Potter, FBI. X-Files Division. That creature is a public menace and needs to be stopped. Now let's go."

Dean hurried around the SWAT team. Harry stared at the heavily armed men. When they made no move to stop Dean, Harry followed him. Moments later Hondo and his men joined the chase.

They charged around the corner and spotted the Stacyx down the street. Harry and Dean launched Stunning Spells. The Stacyx swung around and erected a psychokinetic shield, blocking the spells. Hondo and Deacon raised their M-16s but didn't fire. Probably fearful of hitting innocent bystanders.

The Stacyx crashed through the door of a barber shop. Screams erupted from inside. Harry, Dean and the SWAT team raced after it.

"Man, we being invaded by aliens or what?" Lucca asked.

Deacon glanced over his shoulder at him. "Maybe you can ask that thing once we get it."

They ran into the barber shop, the fearful gazes of the customers locked on them. Harry led them through the back and into an alley. He whipped his head right to left . . . and spotted the Stacyx tearing open a chainlink fence with its bare hands. The seven men sprinted down the alley. Harry felt himself slow down, his legs turning to lead.

_Have to . . . keep going._

Teeth bared, he pumped his legs, fighting off the pain. He wouldn't stop running until he got that Stacyx or he collapsed, whichever came first.

They followed the creature through a small lot filled with weeds and garbage. Harry spotted it running toward a boarded up four-story building. He looked around and saw an abandoned washing machine. Casting a spell, he lifted it in the air and hurled it at the creature.

The Stacyx turned around and fired a mind blast. The washing machine disintegrated.

"When the hell could the FBI do stuff like that?" Shock lit up Lucca's face.

"We're a . . . um, special unit." It was the best lie Harry could come up with. He doubted they'd accept the truth as easily as Sam and Dean Winchester from _Supernatural_, and he didn't have time to waste with explanations.

Without further word, Harry went after the Stacyx as it bounded up the steps and inside the building. Dean and the SWAT team followed.

Harry entered the building, wand extended. Dean entered next, then SWAT. Hondo and his men swept their rifles in all directions, each one shouting, "Clear," seconds later.

His wand tingled, signaling another portal nearby. He headed over to the staircase and started up. When he reached the top he noticed the second door to his left open. Harry carefully peered inside.

Another portal hung over the rotting wooden floor.

"It must have gone in here. Come on."

"Whoa." The red-headed McKay backed up and nodded to the portal. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Don't worry." Dean turned to the SWAT team. "Just stick with us and you'll be fine."

Hondo shook his head. "Weird monsters. Floating light things. I'm having a hard time believing you guys are FBI."

Harry groaned and faced the SWAT leader. "All right, here's the truth. We're wizards, from another world. And the creature we're chasing is responsible for dozens of deaths."

Street shot him a queer look. "Wizards? Boy, do you two need a trip to a nice rubber room."

"Hey. You saw that thing with your own eyes," Dean stated. "You saw what it can do. How can you not believe this?"

Hondo's mouth twisted. A loud hiss escaped his nostrils. He looked back at his men. "Whatever that thing is, it did injure that officer. We have to find it and stop it."

The other four SWAT men reluctantly nodded.

"Right. Let's go."

Harry led them through the portal.

They stepped into a crudely animated landscape. The ground was covered in snow. Several buildings appeared in the distance. Nearby a simple wooden sign read SOUTH PARK.

"Is . . . is this a cartoon?" Lucca looked around, mouth agape.

"How the hell did we wind up here?" An expression of fear and astonishment settled over Deacon's dark features.

"Oh yeah." Dean gave them a half-smile. "That creature, the Stacyx, it can travel through TV shows."

Hondo fixed him with a hard stare. "You're joking."

"Look around for yourself." Harry started toward the animated town. "Does this look like a joke?"

His eyes flickered in all directions. No sign of the Stacyx. He checked the snow, then groaned. Just like in the _Care Bears_ cartoon, you couldn't leave footprints on animated landscapes.

"Oh my God! It killed Kenny!"

Harry halted at the high-pitched voice. A second later he heard another voice.

"You bastard!"

He looked toward a simple green building with the sign TWEEK'S COFFEE HOUSE. He waved the others to follow.

They rounded the side of the building. Harry stopped and gasped at the sight before him.

A small boy in an orange parka lay on his side. A pool of blood surrounded his body. His intestines spilled out onto the ground.

"Dammit!" Harry's gritted his teeth and snorted, saliva spraying from the sides of his mouth. He searched for the Stacyx. It was nowhere in sight.

"That sick bastard!"

Dean ambled up to him and shrugged his shoulders. "Aw, don't worry about it, Harry. That's Kenny. He dies in like every episode, but then comes back for the next show."

Harry turned to Dean, brow furrowed. What the hell sort of people did they let create TV programs nowadays?

"Aw great, Kenny's dead," said a boy with a brown jacket and a blue hat. "Now who are we gonna get to play Finland for our model U.N. project?"

"Who cares about that?" grumbled a fat angry-looking boy. "He was supposed to write my essay for the win a year's supply of Chee-zee Poofs contest." He kicked the dead boy in the head as rats gathered around his corpse. "You _beep_in' asshole! What the _beep_ am I supposed to do now?"

"Excuse me." Harry stepped forward.

The fat boy turned to him. "Who the _beep_ are you?"

Harry glanced around, wondering where that beeping came from. He grunted and pulled out the sketch of the Stacyx. "Did you see where this creature went?"

"Yeah," said the fat boy. "After it tore out Kenny's guts it went that way." He pointed left. "Hopefully it'll kill more useless poor people."

"Cartman!" shouted a boy with an orange jacket and green hat. "Stop being so insensitive, fatass!"

"Stop calling me a fatass, Kyle, you stupid Jew!"

"Stop calling me a stupid Jew, you fatass!"

Harry closed his eyes, his head ready to explode from the boys' yelling. He stomped away, Dean and the SWAT team in tow.

A couple minutes later they approached a simple red school house. SOUTH PARK ELEMENTARY, according to the sign.

"Do you think it went it there?" Lucca nodded to the school.

The door burst open. A boy with wild yellow hair and twitchy eyes dashed outside, screaming his head off.

"What's wrong?" Harry ran over to him.

"Oh Jesus!" The boy trembled. "Monster! Monster in the school! AAAAAAAAH!!"

The boy ran off, arms waving as he screamed in panic.

Someone else flew out of the school, a large-headed boy in a wheelchair. He screeched to a halt in front of them and spoke rapidly.

"Tim-aaaay! Timmy-Timmy!" He pointed back to the school. "Timmy . . . Timmy . . . TIM-AAAAAAAAAY!!!"

Timmy sped off.

Harry shook his head. _People think this is funny?_

He pushed away the trivial thoughts and darted into the school, trailed by the others. Animated students and teachers rushed around the hallways.

"There!" Hondo pointed down the hallway.

The Stacyx stood in front of a bathroom door, holding a yellow-haired boy with a round body.

"Uh-oh," the boy said in a nervous voice. "Um, um . . . excuse me, Mister Monster, Sir. C-Could you please put me down? I got this history test I gotta take and . . ."

The Stacyx threw the boy at Harry and his friends. He screamed as he soared through the air.

Dean raised his wand and caught him in a Levitation Spell. He lowered the boy safely to the floor.

"You okay there, Butters?"

"Oh, um yeah. I'd thank you, but my mom and dad don't want me talking to strangers, and since you're a stranger . . ."

"Let's go!" Harry shouted.

Butters kept talking as they hurried after the Stacyx. They caught up to him in the school cafeteria.

"Hey, you damn demon freak!" yelled a man with a deep voice. "Get your damn hell-spawned ass the hell out of my kitchen!"

Harry and his companions ran past the rows of tables to the serving line, where they spotted a heavyset black man in a red shirt that read CHEF.

"What the hell's goin' on? Damn demon running through my kitchen, ruinin' Salisbury Steak Day."

They ignored him and went into a supply closet. Boxes surrounded them with labels like LARD, PEAS, FRUIT, PIG INTESTINES.

At the other end of the room stood the Stacyx. A white portal hovered just behind him.

Hondo and Deacon raised their M-16s and fired. Harry and Dean covered their ears as the report battered their eardrums.

The Stacyx dove through the portal.

Harry and the other followed it . . .

. . . and wound up in a graveyard at night.

"This just keeps getting freakier," Lucca gazed around at the tombstones and monuments.

Harry saw the Stacyx next to the statue of a weeping angel. In front of it stood a very beautiful blond girl in a form fitting jacket and pants, and holding a wooden stake.

"Wow!" Dean's eyes widened. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Man, Dennis is gonna be so jealous when we tell him about this."

Buffy and the Stacyx stood eyeing one another, apparently waiting for one or the other to make the first move.

"Why don't you wait here while I go get a step ladder," Buffy said in a sarcastic tone. "That way I can stick this in your heart easier." She wiggled the stake.

The Stacyx hissed and took a step toward her.

Harry lifted his wand. _"Constrictus!"_

Vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around the Stacyx. The creature unleashed an unholy cry as the vines pulled it to the ground. He lay spread-eagled, thrashing against the tendrils. They only tightened around its body.

Harry and the others hurried toward the downed creature.

Buffy knelt over it with a rueful smile. "Well, this makes my life easier." She raised the stake over her head. "Buh-bye."

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Harry shouted.

The stake flew out of Buffy's hand.

Her head snapped up, surprise and anger mixed in her eyes. "What the hell? Who are you people?"

"Harry Potter." He pointed at himself. "Dean Thomas, SWAT. And we need that creature alive."

"What for?" Buffy got to her feet, fists clenched.

Harry halted, looking over the beautiful blond. She looked ready for a fight. He prayed she didn't come at him. Harry didn't want to fight a girl.

"That thing has been killing people. And I need to interrogate it."

"Oh sure." Buffy shrugged. "I'll just let a bunch of strangers who look like they just got out of a Halloween party walk up to this demon and start talking to it."

"We're wizards, okay?" Harry held up his wand. "We're good guys. We're on your side. So please let us do our job."

Buffy stared at him for several seconds. With a harsh sigh she took a step back. Her eyes remained locked on Harry, her body coiled, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

Dean sauntered up to the girl, a huge smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Dean Thomas." He stuck out his hand. "I love your show."

Buffy, her forehead crinkled, took his hand with some hesitation. "Um, thanks."

Harry stood over the Stacyx, wand clenched in his hand. His eyes bore into that inhuman face.

"Are there any more of you around?"

The creature just growled at him.

"Who are you? Do you have a name?"

"Scout Leader Bletzar." Its voice sounded like someone talking with a horrible cold.

"How about that." Street stepped around Hondo and gazed at the Stacyx. "It can talk."

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded.

Its lips extended in a demonic smile. "Trying to kill you."

The corners of Harry's nose twitched.

"I've been waiting for you to return, wizard. Yes, I know who you are, what you are. My kind knows you very well, since you tried to exterminate us."

"You're talking about Bentley Basham, aren't you?"

Bletzar hissed. "'Death That Walks.' That is what we call that butcher. But he failed to kill us all."

"How many of you are there?"

"Many."

"Why are you killing Muggles?"

"They sustain us."

Harry licked his lips. "What's your plan?"

"My plan?" The Stacyx emitted a hacking laugh. "My plan was to wait for you to re-enter our world. I re-arranged portals to lead you to shows where we Stacyx had not visited. By the time you reached _Carrie_, your guard would be down, and you would die with all the other characters in the prom scene. Only you _didn't die."_

"Yeah, sorry about that, mate." Dean snorted. "We'll try not to disappoint next time."

A slight tremor went through Harry. He wondered if Bletzar had set up a similar ambush for Hermione and Dennis. He closed his eyes, trying not to imagine the worst.

He returned his focus to the Stacyx. "I didn't mean your personal plan. I meant the plan for the rest of your race. What are you going to do to our world?"

Bletzar grinned evilly. "You'll find out soon enough."

"I want to know now!"

"Whoa!" Lucca blurted. "What now?"

The SWAT officer turned back to the portal, his M-16 raised. Two figures charged out of the shimmering white light and pounded across the cemetery.

Relief swelled within Harry when he recognized Hermione and Dennis.

"Are you two -"

"RUN!!" Hermione screamed.

The portal widened.

Dozens of Stacyx poured through it.

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	8. Chapter 8

"Mother of God!" Lucca stared at the wave of Stacyx flooding the cemetery, the color draining from his face.

"Open fire!" Hondo yelled and brought up his M-16.

Harry whipped his wand in front of him, casting an Ear Protection Charm just as rifle fire exploded around him. Five Stacyx dropped to the ground dead. Relief flashed through him, glad to know Muggle weapons could kill these creatures.

He and Dean felled two more Stacyx with Stunning Spells. Buffy unslung her crossbow and launched an arrow into the chest of another.

Hondo and Street yanked out empty magazines from the M-16s and rammed in fresh ones. The continuous sharp cracks of Muggle rifles merged into one horrendous roar. Harry and Dean added their own spells to the storm of lethal lead.

But no more Stacyx fell. The breath caught in Harry's throat when he noticed shimmering transparent circles in front of the creatures.

"They have their shields up! Fall back! Fall back!"

Hondo's SWAT team sprinted through the cemetery. Some took up positions behind monuments and tombstones, firing to cover retreating teammates. Buffy fired her crossbow at a high angle, trying to get arrows over the Stacyx's shields. One pierced the shoulder of a Stacyx toward the rear. The others alertly erected shields over their heads, defeating Buffy's next shot.

Harry and others jogged backwards, firing spell after spell. The Stacyx's shields held.

Several mind blasts flew from the Stacyx horde. Two angel monuments exploded into dust. Dennis ducked as another blast missed him by inches.

Another monument exploded just as Street ran past it. He grimaced and stumbled as marble shrapnel pelted him. His M-16 flew out of his hands as he fell to the ground.

"Street!" Deacon picked up the SWAT officer and dragged him away from the approaching Stacyx. Blood covered half of Street's face. His eyes were half closed.

Harry sucked on his lip as Hermione unleashed a spell and Hondo and Lucca kept firing. Carrying a wounded man would only slow them down.

"Dennis! Levitation Spell on Street!"

The young man nodded.

"Cover him!" Harry yelled. The air came alive with streaks of blue and red and yellow as he, Hermione and Dean cast one spell after another. The other SWAT officers kept up a steady stream of fire, while Buffy launched arrow after arrow.

The Stacyx walked through the dazzling display of light and the curtain of lead. Harry's entire body tensed. Could anything get through those shields?

Dennis cast a levitation spell on Street, freeing him from Deacon's grip.

"Hermione! Find us another portal!" Harry ordered as they tore through the cemetery. The gurgling cries of the Stacyx horde spread through the cool night air as they kept after them.

Harry glanced over his shoulder. Hondo and Deacon twisted around, their M-16s crackling.

The Stacyx kept coming, their long gait pulling them closer to Harry and the others.

Teeth clenched, Harry whirled around and halted. The SWAT officers raced by, followed by Dean.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"Keep going!"

Lips curled, Dean ran off.

The Stacyx bore down on him.

Harry waited . . . waited.

_Now!_

"_Chasmus!"_ He swept his wand in front of him.

The ground shook. Harry barely kept his balance. A loud tearing sound filled the air. He stumbled back as the ground between him and the Stacyx split open. Tombstones and monuments tumbled into the abyss he created.

So did several Stacyx.

Harry turned and ran after his friends.

"Harry! Over here!" Dean waved to him from the other side of a wrought iron fence.

Using a Bouncing Charm, Harry easily cleared the fence. He landed on a sidewalk where the others had gathered, Street hovering a couple feet off the ground thanks to Dennis' spell.

"I detected another portal," Hermione told him. "Just down the street."

"Great. But how long are we supposed to keep running from those things?" McKay jerked his head in the Stacyx's direction.

"And what about Street?" Lucca glanced at his floating teammate. "We gotta get him to a hospital."

"The first thing we have to do is not get killed by them." Buffy pointed back to the graveyard.

The Stacyx leaped over the chasm Harry created, clearing it with ease.

"Move!"

They darted across the street. Harry aimed his wand at a couple parked cars and flung them into the cemetery. He only managed to knock down one Stacyx.

Fire seared his lungs. Every breath hurt. Harry's legs turned to solid led. He glanced at the others. Dean's face was strained as he tried to keep up. Hermione huffed and puffed. Even the SWAT guys had to will themselves to keep running.

"Here they come!" Buffy's blond hair whipped around as she checked behind them.

Harry turned. The Stacyx jumped over the cemetery fence and continued their pursuit. There had to be over three dozen chasing them.

He cast more spells, chopping down lightpoles. They fell into the street, severed wires throwing out sparks.

The Stacyx jumped over them. One wasn't so lucky. It stepped on an exposed wire, convulsed and crumpled to the ground.

"In there!" Hermione pointed her wand at a darkened one-story house.

"_Openum!"_ Harry shouted.

The front door flew open. The group rushed inside. Deacon pulled out a torch and shined its beam over the darkened living room.

"The portal's this way!"

Wand extended, Hermione led them through the living room and to a bathroom in the back of the house. They found a portal hovering near the shower stall.

While Harry and Hondo covered the door, Hermione and Deacon went through first, followed by Dennis levitating the injured Street.

Sweat drenched Harry forehead. His mouth went dry as his eyes locked on the open front door. A sound like several distant bass drums reached his ears.

Stacyx footfalls.

_How many of them are there?_

"Everyone's through, Harry! C-"

Dean's words were lost in the crash of shattering glass. A Stacyx burst through the front window. Two others followed it inside. More stormed through the door.

The crack of Hondo's M-16 rang through the entire house. A Stacyx twisted and fell. Harry knocked down another with a Stunning Spell before the others erected psychokinetic shields. With great swipes they knocked aside furniture and tables and stomped toward him and Hondo.

Harry glanced at the ceiling and raised his wand. _"Collapsus!"_

The roof caved in. Huge chunks of debris dropped onto the Stacyx.

Through the door, he saw more gathering outside.

"Let's go!" Harry slapped Hondo on the shoulder.

The SWAT leader slapped a fresh magazine into his M-16 and followed him into the portal.

They had emerged inside a plainly furnished house that could definitely use a good cleaning. Loud gasps filled the air as everyone sucked down huge gulps of oxygen.

"Where the hell are we?" Buffy looked around, her smooth face crinkling in disgust at the dreary condition of the home.

"Another TV show." Dean breathed deep. "Don't know which one."

"TV show?" Buffy turned to him.

Dean gave her a brief rundown of the Stacyx and their predicament.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And I thought my life couldn't get any weirder."

"Well we can't stay here." Hondo stepped over to an old couch, his eyes on the portal next to the fireplace. "Harry brought down half the house on the Stacyx, but that won't stop them for long. They'll be through that portal soon enough."

"But we can't keep running forever," said Dennis. "I mean, we have to stand and fight them eventually."

"How?" Hermione threw out her arms. "They completely outnumber us."

Suddenly a dark-haired boy rushed into the living room, his bulging eyes locked on them. He looked away and spoke to . . . no one.

"Wait a minute. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the guys from _SWAT_ are in my house? This has got to be the coolest dream I've ever had."

Buffy drew her head back. "Oh my God. Is this _Malcolm in the Middle?"_

The door opened and a tall slender, unsmiling woman tromped through. She gasped when she saw Harry and the others. Impossible as it seemed, the scowl on her face grew more pronounced. She aimed her burning eyes at the boy.

"Why is there a SWAT team in our living room? Malcolm, what the hell did you blow up this time?"

Malcolm turned away from his mother and again spoke to no one. "Wait a minute. If this is a dream, why am I about to get grounded? Man, I don't believe it. I'm having a dream with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in it, and it's gonna totally suck."

The woman stormed over to them. "So what's it going to cost this time . . ."

"Oh shut up!" Hermione snapped. "We don't have time for this."

The woman's jaw hung open in shock. Hermione ignored her and turned back to the others.

"As I was saying, how can we fight them when they outnumber us?"

"This is how." Dean motioned to Buffy and the SWAT team.

Hermione furrowed her brow, as did Harry.

"We already have Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the guys from _SWAT_ fighting with us. We just need to get to another action show or movie and get more heroes. Something like _Justice League _or _Stargate SG-1_ or _The Matrix._ Then we can -"

"Look out!" Hermione screamed.

Malcolm's mother let out a shriek.

A Stacyx emerged from the portal.

Buffy did a running jump onto the sofa, flew through the air and hit the creature with a flying kick to the mid-section. It tumbled back into the portal.

"GO!!"

Harry led them outside to a weed infested yard. They ran two blocks before Hermione located another portal. Harry and Dean cast spells to move parked cars into the middle of the street. The improvised barrier did little slow the Stacyx as they hurdled or ran over the vehicles.

The group sprinted through the parking lot of a large store and dashed through the sliding doors. A grossly overweight man with glasses and unkempt black hair stood in front of them.

"Hello, welcome to -"

Hermione and Hondo pushed him to the floor.

"Hey," he said in a meek voice. "Don't make me call security on you."

Harry cast a spell to knock down the shelves, creating a domino effect. That's when he glimpsed the Stacyx entering the store. The fat man screamed like a girl and scrambled back on his bum.

"In here!" Hermione waved them to a supply room.

They bolted through the portal.

The brilliant white light gave way to an empty classroom. Harry led them to the door and threw it open.

A clean brightly light hallway greeted him. He glanced around and saw a couple dozen well-dressed teenagers, most of whom looked like they stepped off the cover of some Muggle fashion magazine. Across from him a dark-haired girl with puffy red eyes and tear streaks on her face was talking rapidly to a very attractive blond.

"Dillon's still drinking, and Dad doesn't want me to see him anymore. But I love him so much. Oh Kelly, my whole world is falling apart."

Dean groaned. Harry turned to see his friend stare at him, shaking his head.

"Oh, Brenda." The blond, Kelly, hugged the other girl.

"Next show," Dean grumbled and strode into the hallway.

"Oh Kelly," Brenda sniffled. "What am I going to do?"

"For starters, get yourself a fellow who isn't a complete head case."

The two girls gaped at Dean as he passed by, then backed up against their lockers when the SWAT team exited the classroom.

"No help then, I take it?" Harry nodded back to the girls.

Dean snorted. "_Beverly Hills 90210._ Bunch of spoiled, whiny American teenagers. Utterly useless."

By the time they reached the front entrance to the school, screams echoed throughout the hallways.

"I think our friends are here," said Buffy.

They hurried through the parking lot, several students backing away in fright, their eyes locked on the rifles of the SWAT team and Street floating next to Dennis.

Hermione led them to a restaurant three blocks away called THE PEACH PIT. They rounded the corner into an alley, where another portal hovered. Harry hurried toward it, hoping to find help on the other side.

_It sure would be nice to have those Winchester guys with us again._

They appeared in the hallway of another Muggle school. Harry rolled his eyes. _How many shows take place in schools?_

A lanky boy with red hair, glasses and a stupid look on his face stood in the middle of the hallway.

"Flippin' sweat. What is that thing?"

"Oh, not _Napoleon Dynamite."_ Dean's face contorted in annoyance. "This is even more useless than _90210."_

Without further word, Hermione had her wand out, searching for the next portal.

"Dude, maybe we can jump our bikes through that thing."

Harry ignored Napoleon and hurried down the hallway.

They found the next portal in the middle of a cow pasture. In the distance Stacyx poured out of the school and charged after them. Harry swallowed. There had to be fifty of those things coming their way.

Harry and Hondo covered the others as they went through the portal, then followed.

"Okay, this is weird," Harry heard a woman's voice.

"Yes," said another voice, much younger. A teenage girl. "Very weird."

Harry gazed around his new surroundings. The group stood in a small dinner. The large windows showed a quaint little town outside. Two dark-haired women, a mother and daughter by the look of them, sat at a table in the middle of the diner.

"So, Rory. Scale of one to ten, how weird is this?"

"Scale of one to ten?" the younger girl, Rory replied.

"One to ten."

"About a twenty."

"That's not on the scale."

"I know."

"Then why did you say twenty?"

"You think one to ten can cover a bunch of people suddenly appearing out of nowhere?"

"Argh!" Dean bared his teeth. _"Gilmore Girls?_ You have got to be kidding me?"

"So along with traveling through TV shows," Buffy began. "Do these Stacyx also zap you with some kind of bad luck mojo?"

"We have to move on." Harry felt anger lines creased his face as he pushed open the glass door.

"You ladies better eat up and get the hell out of here," Lucca warned them. "There's gonna be some nasty creature coming through that portal in another minute."

Harry and the group made it across the street when the first Stacyx emerged from the portal. Rory and her mother screamed and took off out the back door.

Running the whole way, Hermione found the next portal inside the bathroom of a hardware store two blocks away.

They entered a cartoon world. Harry scanned the circular corridor around him. Large windows showed a dark starry sky that went on forever.

_We're on a space station._

The animation also looked different, nothing like the _Care Bears_ or _South Park._ Dean had showed him cartoons like this back at Hogwarts. Stuff from Japan. What was the term?

_Oh yeah. Anime._

"All right, this is promising." Dean moved down the corridor, followed by the others. Harry, Hondo and Buffy constantly peered over their shoulders at the portal. The Stacyx would probably come through any moment.

"Yes, finally!"

Harry watched as Dean clapped and took off toward two men, one lean with fluffy dark green hair, the other brutish with a thick black beard and no mustache.

"Dean, what is it?" Harry called after him.

Dean spun around, smiling, fists raised in the air. "We're in _Cowboy Bebop!_ That's Spike Spiegel and Jet Black! Bounty hunters!"

"Two of them." Buffy stood arms akimbo. "Yeah, that'll really help us."

"It's a start. And these two know how to kick some ass."

The two anime characters looked to one another, then to Dean.

"What do you think his problem is, Spike?" asked the bigger guy, Jet.

Spike shrugged. "Drugs. Some sort of psychosis. Probably a combination of both."

"Hey, guys." Dean bounded up to the pair. "Dean Thomas. What I'm about to say is gonna sound weird, but just bear with me. I'm a wizard, so are my friends. And we teamed up with a bunch of television characters to fight creatures called the Stacyx. And we'd like your help."

A queer look came over Jet's face. He turned to Spike. "Is this nutjob serious?"

Harry heard a gurgling hiss behind him. He swung around.

Ten Stacyx jumped out of the portal.

Spike frowned. "Yup. He's serious," he said nonchalantly.

In a flash Spike drew his handgun and opened fire. Two Stacyx fell to the floor dead.

The SWAT team dropped to one knee and fired. Jet Black yanked out his pistol and added to the lead maelstrom.

Two more Stacyx collapsed before they erected their shields.

Hermione severed a hanging light fixture above the Stacyx. They created shields over their heads just in time. Harry cast a Flare Charm in front of the creatures. They winced at the brilliant glowing ball of light.

"That won't slow them down long. Let's get to the next portal."

Hermione held out her wand and hurried down the corridor. Spike and Jet got off a few more futile rounds before following.

"We better wind up on a show with a lot more good guys soon," Deacon said. "We're getting damn low on ammunition."

They pounded down a metal staircase. Harry stood off to the side until everyone passed, then collapsed it just as the Stacyx appeared above him. He raced down the next flight to catch up to everyone.

"Some R-and-R this turned out to be," Jet grumbled to Spike.

"Hey, it could be worse."

"How?"

Spike shrugged. "Don't know. But it could."

Hermione hit the landing and darted for a sliding door. The group emerged into another corridor.

"This way! Hurry!"

Something crashed behind them. Harry whirled around and saw part of the ceiling collapse. He flashed back to his harrowing experience in _Carrie._

But instead of flaming debris, Stacyx dropped through the hole.

"I hope the next portal's damn close." Buffy triggered her crossbow. The arrow caught one Stacyx in the eye before it could form a shield.

Spike, Jet, Lucca and Deacon fired on the run. They managed to wound a couple Stacyx before their shields went up.

Hermione blew apart a door with a Redactor Curse. They stared inside at a small room with a bed, a desk and a flatscreen TV. The portal hung next to the bed.

"Let's go," Harry stepped into the room.

"Where?" Jet scrunched his face.

"In there!" Harry stabbed a finger toward the portal.

"Like hell. I'm not going into that thing."

Hisses from the Stacyx carried through the air.

"Well, you can stay here with those things," said Spike. "I'll take my chances with . . . whatever that is." He nodded to the portal.

Buffy slapped them both on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You get used to it after a while."

Harry waved everyone through, casting a Web Spell over the open door before leaping into the portal.

He landed on a stage. A thin girl with long blond hair gaped at the group, along with her companion, another, shorter blond. A large sparkling sign hung overhead that read HANNAH MONTANA.

Harry's neck muscles tightened. Hope melted inside him.

"Dean?"

As he feared, his friend shook his head. "No help here, Harry. Onto the next show."

They darted across the stage, the two blonds staring at them in amazement.

"Wha-What?" the taller one gaped as Buffy and McKay streaked by her. "What the hootenanny is goin' on here?"

Dean skidded to a halt next to them. "Hannah. Lilly. If I were you I'd . . ."

A Stacyx exited the portal. Followed by another, and another . . .

Hannah and Lilly screamed.

"Go! Go!" Dean pushed them forward as mind blasts shot through the air. Chunks of wood from the walls exploded around them. Hondo, Deacon and Spike returned fire with their guns.

Harry scowled as he looked back to see Hannah Montana and Lilly join the mad dash to the next portal. Neither of them looked like they'd be useful in a fight. He needed fighters, not people to baby-sit.

They found the next portal in the basement of this auditorium. Harry collapsed the ceiling above the stairs. Hermione then cast a spell and coated the floor with ice.

"Let's go!" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and ran into the portal.

"Hassan! Open the roof and ready the missile for launch. We'll hold off the Americans."

Harry gazed around him. They had come out in what appeared to be a rather large aeroplane hangar. Stacks of crates stretched from one end of the hangar to the other. In the center was a flatbed truck with a huge missile pointed toward the roof high above them. The deep report of gunfire saturated the air.

Harry looked toward the front of the hangar. About twenty olive-skinned, dark-haired men stood near windows and doors firing AK-47s. Four other men laid on the ground in pools of blood.

"What's going on?" A trembling Lilly clutched Hannah, who was also trembling.

Buffy cringed. "I got a feeling these aren't good guys."

"Then we better find a way out before -"

"Intruders!" Another harsh voice cut off Harry.

Several of the men up front spun around, their eyes fixed on Harry and his group. Four brought up their rifles and fired.

"Take cover!" Hondo yelled.

Bullets slapped against wooden crates. Hondo dragged Hannah Montana and Lilly behind a stack of crates. Something warbled over Harry's head. He peeked out from behind his crates as McKay fired nearby. One of the "bad guys" spun and fell to the ground dead.

Even with an Ear Protection Charm, the constant roar of gunfire became unbearable. Bad guys maneuvered between crates, popping up and firing. Spike shot one through the head, then ducked as a spray of bullets cut into the crates he hid behind. Hermione hit two men with disarming charms before she had to duck from a hail of bullets.

"Damn!" Lucca cursed. "I'm down to my last clip!"

"Same here!" hollered Deacon.

Some of the bad guys moved forward while others provided covering fire. Dean got one with a Petrifying Spell before he had to duck.

Harry raised his wand, ready to knock over the stacks of crates the bad guys used for cover.

A blur of movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Harry looked behind him. His insides froze.

The Stacyx rushed out of the portal.

**NEXT:** _The Stacyx, terrorists, Harry & Company, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, SWAT, Cowboy Bebop, Hannah Montana and another surprise crossover in a pitched battle you never thought you'd see._


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following contains some scenes of intense violence. You have been warned.**

* * *

The shooting tapered off. Harry swung back to the gunmen. Most gazed at the emerging Stacyx with a mix of fear and shock. One man screamed and ran toward the hangar exit. Seconds later another man screamed. Instead of running, he brought up his AK-47 and fired at the Stacyx.

One of the creatures stumbled and fell face first to the concrete floor. Spike killed another with a head shot.

Psychokinetic shields formed in front of several Stacyx. Others fired mind blasts. One gunman threw his arms in the air as he fell, a gaping bloody hole where his chest used to be.

The roar of rifle fire returned. Warbling bullets and the whine of mind blasts criss-crossed the air around Harry and his group. Most of them ducked as low as possible. Crates they used for cover shattered. Hermione cast an Entanglement Spell around the legs of one Stacyx . . . then rolled out of the way just as a mind blast left a small crater on the ground she had just occupied.

Dread-fueled tremors raced across Harry's body. He raised his wand over a crate and cast a Stunning Spell without looking. His eyes darted from one member of his ad hoc team to the other. If they didn't get out of this crossfire soon, they would all wind up dead.

A sharp _whoosh_ pierced the constant rattle of gunfire. Harry gasped as a small rocket shot across the hangar.

"Look o-"

The loud crack of an explosion drowned out his words. An orange and black flash blotted out several Stacyx. Seconds later the smoke began to clear. Several Stacyx reeled back and forth, stunned but alive.

_What does it take to get through those shields?_

"McKay!" Dean doubled over and dashed from his stack of crates to the ones McKay used for cover. The SWAT sharpshooter lay on the ground, clutching his left shoulder.

Harry turned toward the gunmen. One of them shoved a small rocket into a tubular device.

Harry checked back on Dean and McKay. The SWAT officer grimaced, blood seeping through his fingers.

Only one course of action came to mind.

"Dean! Chuck me your wand!"

"What?" Dean's face scrunched in confusion.

"Throw me your wand now!"

Dean lofted his wand through the air. It clattered on the floor. Harry reached out and snatched it.

The man with the rocket launcher rested it on his shoulder.

Harry took two quick, deep breaths, gripping both wands tightly. He took a third breath, held it and rose.

He shouted the appropriate spell. White light emerged from both wands. The human fighter launched his rocket just as the Shield Spell took form.

An explosion rattled the shield to his right. Harry clenched his teeth as a violent tremor threatened to tear apart his body. To his left, Stacyx mind blasts pummeled that shield.

"Get to the wall!" He shouted at the others. "The wall!"

Buffy and the _Cowboy Bebop_ guys ran past him, followed by Hermione, Deacon and Dennis levitating Street. Harry's entire body shook as bullets and mind blasts hammered his shields.

Dean passed him next, looking at Harry impressed as he helped McKay, whose shoulder appeared to have been cut open by shrapnel from the exploding rocket. Last came Hondo, Lucca and the trembling and screaming Hannah Montana and Lilly.

Harry ducked and switched off his shields. Bullets and mind blasts screamed over him. Fast as he could, he crawled toward his teammates. Many had crouched behind crates and work tables near the wall. Hermione levitated a bench and hurled it at the Stacyx. It shattered against their shields.

Another rocket streaked across the room. The very air shook from the explosion. Harry looked back, his eyes wide with surprise.

Several Stacyx flew toward the back wall, some missing limbs. Other staggered on their feet, their shields flickering on and off. Hope started to burn in Harry's soul.

"They're getting weaker!" He yelled to the others. "Keep attacking them!"

Streaks of light shot out from Hermione's wand. Dennis gently laid Street on the ground and added his own spells. The SWAT team and _Cowboy Bebop_ guys blazed away with their guns.

Mind blasts shot their way. Holes exploded in the wall. Crates burst into wooden splinters.

Four Stacyx broke from the horde and took running leaps at them.

One twisted in the air and let out an unholy shriek before crashing to the floor, a victim of one of the gunmen. Harry sent a second Stacyx flying backwards with a Repulsing Spell.

The remaining two landed among his teammates.

Buffy sprang to her feet and delivered a sidekick to the Stacyx's leg. It staggered back, then took a swipe at the slayer. Buffy ducked and sent a roundhouse kick into the creature's pelvis. It hissed and lashed out with a clawed hand. Buffy grabbed the Stacyx's wrist with one hand and drove her other hand up into the creature's elbow. Harry cringed at the loud snap.

The Stacyx let out an agonizing shriek. Buffy pulled out a stake from under her jacket, jumped in the air and plunged it into the creature's chest. It stood immobile for a few moments, teetered and crashed to the floor.

The other Stacyx shoved Spike into the wall. He grimaced, but managed to stay on his feet as the Stacyx stomped toward him.

Spike dropped to the ground and swept out his right foot, catching the Stacyx around the ankle. The creature wailed and fell on its back. Spike leapt beside the Stacyx, drew back his hand and drove it into the creature's throat. It convulsed, flailing its arms and emitting crackling gasps as it tried to breathe.

Harry made it over to Dean just as the Stacyx suffocated. He handed his friend back his wand and scanned the hangar. The man with the rocket launcher prepared to fire again.

A mind blast connected with the weapon on his shoulder. The man vanished in a fiery ball of orange. Blood and chunks of meat spattered crates, the wall and his surviving comrades.

"I'm out of ammo!" Deacon announced.

"Me too," said Hondo. The SWAT leader twisted around and pulled out a revolver.

A bullet caught him above the shoulderblade. Hannah Montana and Lilly screamed as Hondo pitched forward.

Another Stacyx jumped into their midst. Jet Black rammed a fist into its mid-section. It stumbled. He was about to follow up the attack when another Stacyx appeared and chopped him on the shoulder. Jet cried out in pain a dropped to the floor.

Dennis took down one of the Stacyx with a Stunning Spell. The other fired a mind blast. The stack of crates collapsed and crashed down on Dennis and McKay.

"NO!!" Harry's eyes locked on Dennis' inert form. His mind shot him back eight years to another still body, that of Colin Creevey.

_Not again. Please not again._

Harry started over to him.

A Stacyx jumped in front of him. Harry skidded to as halt and gazed into the creature's face. He actually recognized this one.

Scout Leader Bletzar.

Harry raised his wand.

Bletzar's hand shot out and grabbed his throat.

The wand slipped from Harry's hand. His eyes bulged as a vice tightened around his throat.

"Harry!" Hermione, crouched next to some crates, brought up her wand.

A mind blast tore through the crates and blew out part of wall. The blast wave sent Hermione sprawling face first onto the ground.

Panic and fear gripped Harry. Hermione. Dennis. Hondo. Were they dead? No, they couldn't be.

His eyes searched desperately for help. Spike was busy fighting off two Stacyx, as was Buffy. Deacon, Lucca and Dean were all pinned down by bullets and mind blasts.

Black engulfed Harry's peripheral vision. The color faded from the world around him. His lungs threatened to burst.

_James. Ginny. I love you both._

Bletzar leaned closer to him. The monster's stale wretched breath smacked Harry's face.

"Now . . . you . . . die."

Harry felt his body go limp.

Thunder rattled the hangar.

Bletzar relaxed his hold on Harry's throat and turned to the rear of the hangar. Harry could just make out a smoldering circular hole in the wall. Several black-clad helmeted men ran through the opening, all carrying stubby submachine guns.

"Secure the missile!" someone hollered.

Bletzar swung his misshapen head back to Harry. The pressure around his neck increased.

Two distant cracks penetrated his hazy world. Bletzar jerked. His fingers unclenched from Harry's windpipe. He sagged to his knees, wheezing as he refilled his lungs with wonderful air.

The staccato of gunfire increased around him. The color returned to his vision. Harry coughed while watching the black-clad men move through the hangar, guns blazing.

"What are those things?" one of the newcomers said before a mind blast blew out his sternum.

"You okay, there?" a woman asked.

At first Harry assumed it was Hermione. But no. The accent was much different. American, from the Deep South.

He lifted his head and gasped, this time in astonishment.

Hannah Montana knelt beside him, Hondo's smoking revolver in her hand.

Harry's eyes darted from Hannah to the gun, then to Bletzar, who lay on the ground bleeding. His eyes returned to the blond teenager. "Y-You? H-How?"

Hannah Montana shrugged. "I'm from Tennessee. I learned to shoot before I was potty trained."

After another wheezing gasp of breath, Harry thanked Hannah, then stared past her. Relief flooded his heart when he saw Dennis and Hermione stirring.

Massaging his throat, he turned around. None of the gunmen remained standing. The black-clad men continued to pepper the Stacyx's shields with their submachine guns. The shields flickered on and off. The Stacyx's movement even looked sluggish.

They were wearing out.

Harry counted six Stacyx fall dead under the withering fire of the black-clad men, all of whom had the yellow letters CTU embroidered on the backs of their uniforms.

"Scatter!" one of the surviving Stacyx hollered.

The creatures took off in separate directions.

"Agent Martinez! Agent Spangler!" hollered one of the black-clad men, a tall man with rugged features. "Take your teams and hunt down those . . . things."

"Yes, Sir."

Several agents exited the hangar to pursue the Stacyx.

"Agent Bauer." A dark-skinned man hurried over to the leader. "The missile is secure. Looks like we got here just in time. All indications are it was minutes away from launch."

"Okay." Bauer nodded. "Contact the NEST team, tell them we've secured the area and to come in and remove the warhead."

"Yes, Sir."

"Harry! You okay, mate?" Dean rushed over to him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Harry slowly got to his feet. "Any idea where we are?"

"Yeah. This is _24_. We really lucked out coming here."

"Agent Bauer! Over here!"

Harry turned. For CTU men aimed their submachine guns at them. Bauer hurried over, pistol aimed at them.

"Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!"

The revolver jumped out of Hannah Montana's hand. Dean kept his wand pressed against his side.

"Show me your hands!" Bauer ordered, his pistol aimed at Dean. "Show me your hands!"

"Sure. No problem." Dean slowly raised both hands.

"What's that in your hand?"

"_Confundus!"_

Little blue balls of light swept over the hangar and streaked into the eyes of Bauer and the CTU agents. They all shook their heads and looked back at Harry and the others.

"Um . . . Special Agent Thomas, Minis . . . I mean, Department of Defense . . . um, Torchwood Section. My team and I have been tracking down these . . . alien invaders for the past few days." He nodded to the dead Stacyx.

"Aliens? Invaders?" A quizzical look fell over Bauer's face. He holstered his pistol and pulled a cell phone from his bulky black vest.

"Chloe, it's Jack. We have a new development here at the hangar. We encountered some sort of creatures . . . yes, I said creatures. I'll send you video of them in a moment. See if there's anything on file about them and a DOD outfit called Torchwood Section . . . Yes, I'm serious. Here's the proof."

Scowling, Jack Bauer aimed the lens of his camera phone at the Stacyx bodies.

"Hey!" Harry called out. "We've got wounded people here."

Bauer turned to one of his agents. "Callingworth. See to it."

Callingworth nodded and waved over three other agents. They examined each of Harry's teammates. Street had a concussion and numerous lacerations. McKay's left shoulder had been opened by shrapnel. A bullet went completely through Hondo's right shoulder. Thankfully none of the injuries proved life-threatening.

Jet Black wound up with a dislocated shoulder. Dennis had a big lump on his head and Hermione suffered a cut on the forehead and ringing in her ears.

_We were damn lucky, all things considered._

"Did you get all that, Chloe?" Bauer had the cell phone up to his ear again. "No, I don't know what they are . . . No, I don't think any of them are still alive."

"Wanna bet?" Hannah Montana nodded toward the floor.

Harry, Dean and Bauer looked down. Buffy, Spike, Deacon, Lucca and Lilly also came over to join them.

Bletzar stirred, a clawed hand over his chest. His mouth twisted, unleashing sharp hisses.

"So what do we do with this thing?" Spike asked in a casual manner.

"We interrogate him." Harry's face tightened as he gazed at the injured Stacyx. "And this time, you're going to tell us what your people are up to."

_TO BE CONTINUED_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_CTU stands for Counter-Terrorist Unit. NEST, the Nuclear Emergency Search Team, is an actual organization with the U.S. Department of Energy charged with locating stolen nuclear weapons._


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following contains scenes of intense and disturbing violence. You have been warned.**

* * *

"What are the Stacyx planning?" Harry narrowed his eyes at Bletzar. "Do you have a central base?"

Bletzar continued to gurgle in pain.

"How many Stacyx are there?"

Bletzar made a sound like he wanted to spit up.

"Answer me!" Harry shook with rage.

"C'mon, Bletzar," Deacon said in a calmer tone. "You're buddies took off without you, left you to die. You think you still owe them anything?"

The Stacyx scout leader half-choked, half laughed. "I wouldn't waste time carrying a wounded warrior. Why should I expect the others to be different?"

"They really inspire loyalty in your army, don't they?" Spike said, slouching to one side, hands in his pockets.

Harry stared at the pool of oily black blood slowly expanding from underneath Bletzar. He wondered how much time this creature had to live.

"Back at the cemetery, when I asked what you were planning, you said we'd find out soon. How soon do you mean?"

Bletzar drew a ragged breath, but said nothing.

"Are you going to launch a major attack? When is it? Tomorrow? Next week?"

The Stacyx showed off his pointy teeth in an evil smile. "It's coming, and you won't have enough time to stop it. And when it happens, mankind will become our livestock, and every wizard and witch in the world will be exterminated."

"This is getting us nowhere," Bauer grumbled. He bent down, reached under Bletzar and turned him over on his stomach.

"What are you doing?" Harry's forehead wrinkled.

Bauer didn't answer. He pulled a folding knife from his pocket and opened it.

Harry's heart beat harder. His stomach twisted into a cold knot. _He can't be . . ._

Bauer shoved the knife into one of Bletzar's bullet wounds. The creature let out a blood-curdling shriek. Harry cringed, both from the sound and from Bauer jerking his knife back and forth. More dark blood gushed from the wound.

"No! Stop it!" Harry needed information, but not this way. He raised his wand.

Four CTU agents brought up their submachine guns, all barrels aimed at Harry's chest.

"You want this information?" Bauer yelled. "This is the only way to get it! If you can handle it, then get out!"

Bauer looked back down at Bletzar. "When do you plan to launch your attack?"

Bletzar gurgled, then spoke in a strained voice. "Three . . . three days from now."

"What's your target?"

"The attack . . . is worldwide."

"How many of you are there?"

Bletzar inhaled a ragged breath and pressed his face to the floor.

"How many?" Bauer drove his knife deeper into wound.

Bletzar shrieked. Harry sneered, running a hand over the back of his head in frustration. He couldn't stand this anymore. He had to find a way to stop it. But four Muggle weapons trained on him didn't give him much in the way of options. Being a wizard didn't make him immune to bullets.

"How many?" Bauer repeated.

"Eight . . ." Bletzar croaked.

"A worldwide attack with just eight Stacyx?" Buffy's face wrinkled in disbelief.

Bletzar drew in another wheezing breath and continued. "Eight . . . hundred . . . thousand."

His disgust at Bauer's torture techniques fled Harry's mind. _Eight hundred thousand Stacyx?_ He shivered at the thought of whole hordes rampaging through Britain, America, Australia and numerous other countries.

"Where are they located?" Harry's voice sounded distant to him as he asked the question.

Bletzar groaned. "Our central base is in _The Land That Time Forgot."_

"Dean?" Harry turned to his friend.

"It's a movie from the 1970s. A group of Muggles in a submarine wind up in this undiscovered land filled with dinosaurs. It's sort of like _Jurassic Park_, only without the good special effects."

Harry glanced back at Bletzar, who appeared barely conscious. Bauer still had his knife dug into the creature's bloody wound.

"Three days," Harry muttered to himself. "Why three days from now?"

Harry whipped his head back to Dean. "When Hermione and I went to see Bentley Basham, he said the Stacyx's first invasion attempt was 1953 when they televised Queen Elizabeth's coronation. He said they needed some event that a large portion of the population would watch in order to launch a massive attack. Is there anything happening three days from now that a lot of people will tune in to?"

Dean worked his jaw back and forth. The silence lasted several seconds. Harry's impatience began to bubble when his friend's eyes widened.

"Oh my God. The Moon landing."

"Moon landing?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. The Muggles have been playing it up for the last year."

Harry's lips curled. He hadn't heard a word about it. It just showed him how out of touch he'd been with the Muggle world since he left the Dursleys.

Dean continued. "They're billing it as mankind's big return to the Moon. This is supposed to be the first step in building a lunar base and eventually sending a manned mission to Mars. It's scheduled to lift off today and arrive at the Moon three days from now. Harry, half the world is expected to watch the landing."

"But that's over three billion people," noted Buffy. "Okay, eight hundred thousand Stacyx is a lot, but they can't suck out the brain waves of three billion people, especially if they're doing it one TV set and one family at a time."

"But it won't be one family at a time." Dean raised a finger to make his point. "You'll have groups of people watching this in pubs, in public squares, in stadiums and arenas. Imagine ninety-thousand people watching the Moon landing in Wembley Stadium. The Stacyx could take them all out in one fell swoop. Oh my God. There'll be world leaders watching. Prime ministers, presidents, kings, generals."

Harry had to use every ounce of self-control to keep from shaking. He spoke, fighting to keep his voice steady. "So we're not only looking at millions of dead Muggles, but possible worldwide anarchy."

Dean nodded. "And the Stacyx taking full advantage of it."

Tremors took hold of Harry's legs. Fear accelerated his breathing. The images of piles of dead people in pubs and village squares spooled through his mind. Next his brain spawned visions of Diagon Alley, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade lying in ruin. Amongst the rubble were friends and loved ones. Ron, Hermione, Dean, Dennis, George, Teddy, Luna, Molly, Arthur . . .

Ginny and little James.

He wanted to throw up. He wanted to wish it all away. He wanted to curse Bentley Basham for not killing every last Stacyx all those years ago.

The tremors spread over Harry's entire body. He hadn't felt fear like this since the night he went into the forest to let Voldemort "kill" him.

"What are we gonna do?"

A quivering female voice broke through his thoughts. Harry traced it to Hannah Montana. The girl looked at him with unblinking, terrified eyes, her face pale.

Harry sighed and shook his head. Standing here wallowing in his fears wouldn't do anything to stop the Stacyx.

"We have to inform the Ministry immediately. Not just ours, but all the Ministries and Departments of Magic in the world. Still, even if we got every auror in the world, every member of groups like the Order of the Phoenix in the world, the Stacyx would still have us vastly outnumbered. And unfortunately, we can't just conjure up an army out of thin air."

"Sure we can."

Harry turned to Dean with a befuddled look. "What are you talking about?"

A smile slowly spread across Dean's face. "Harry, we are inside the world of television. If you need an army, we can get an army."

* * *

_NEXT: THE GREATEST GATHERING OF GOOD_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: As you can see, the final showdown with the Stacyx is fast approaching. And since I'm such a nice guy, if you have any requests for TV or movie heroes you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters of "The Airwaves War," just send me a private message or leave your suggestions in your reviews, and I'll do my best to include them, even if it is for just a cameo. Remember, Harry and Dean said they need an army. Help me create one.**


	11. Chapter 11

A shimmering white portal opened next to Hermione. She didn't even flinch. Portals had been opening constantly for the past three days. She turned and casually observed a slender teenager with dark hair and a brightly colored costume step out of the light.

"I'm Robin." He pointed to the other four strangely garbed, cartoon teens behind him. "Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. We're the Teen Titans."

Hermione just nodded. "You can check in over there." She pointed to a large red tent on a small rise with orange trim and numerous pennants.

Robin thanked her and headed to the wizard-made headquarters tent with his team.

Slowly, Hermione's eyes swept over the valley of tall grass surrounded by hills and primordial forests. Rows of tents stretched from one end of the valley to the other. Tens of thousands of people in every manner of dress from primitive to futuristic mingled together. Portals opened constantly, depositing more TV and movie heroes.

Hermione shook her head. She had seen many unbelievable things since she had learned she was a witch. Never in her wildest imagination did she think she'd ever behold a sight like this.

Gladiators, mecha, cartoon characters, soldiers in every sort of uniform imaginable. Thousands upon thousands of fictional characters all brought together in one place . . . for one critical battle.

Hermione's awe at the sea of heroes was tempered by one troubling thought.

_Will it be enough?_

Another portal opened near her. A muscular dark-haired man with a large machine gun stepped out.

"John Rambo," he nodded to her before scanning the landscape. "Am I in the right place?"

"Yes. Check in at that large tent over there."

Rambo nodded again and stalked off.

Hermione stared at the distant hills. Beyond them lay the entire Stacyx army. Her heart hammered in her chest as she imagined 800,000 of the creatures bearing down on them.

She shuffled back to the tent city, hugging herself. Throaty caws echoed overhead. She looked up and spotted half-a-dozen pterodactyls circling high above her. They looked more like puppets than real animals.

She negotiated the maze of tents. All around her men and woman sharpened swords, cleaned guns and worked on vehicles and mecha. Hermione thought back to the pitched battle they had in the show _24._ What they went through there nearly rivaled the night Voldemort's forces attacked Hogwarts. All the explosions, the quaking of the ground . . . the deaths.

And it would likely pale in comparison with what lay ahead.

She trembled. Fear threatened to crush her. Hermione did her best to fight it off. This wouldn't be the first time she'd faced death. She made it through the Battle of Hogwarts when so many others didn't.

So why did this time feel different?

Hermione walked by a tall handsome man with a charming smile, who was talking to a dark-skinned woman with gleaming white hair.

"Hi," said the man, a twinkle in his eye. "Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood."

"Storm, of the X-Men." She shook Jack's hand, a smile forming on her lips.

Hermione's lips tightened as she continued to stare at them.

She needed to see Ron . . . now.

Picking up her pace, she headed for the tent she and her husband shared. Along the way she passed two men conversing near a U.S. Army Jeep.

"You're serious?" said Hugh Jackman's _Van Helsing._ "You can't use a wooden stake to kill vampires on your world?"

"I've already told you that three times," grumbled Wesley Snipes' _Blade._ "My answer won't change the fourth time."

Hermione made it to her tent and threw back the flap. Like all wizard-made tents, it was larger on the inside than the outside.

She spotted Ron on a sofa, hunched over, rolling his wand back and forth in his hands.

"Ron?"

He straightened up and turned to her. "Oh. Um, hey Hermione." He tried to tighten his face, mold it into a stone mask.

Hermione canted her head. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Sure. Fine." He stood and drew a deep breath. "Just . . . anxious for this battle to get going, you know. I hate all this waiting around."

Hermione gave a slight nod. "It's all right to be scared."

"Who says I'm scared?" He snapped.

"Well I am. I think anyone with a brain would be."

Ron's shoulders sagged. "Okay, yeah. I'm scared. But, you know . . . we've been in tight spots before. Look at everything we went through tracking down the Horcruxes. And then there was the Battle of Hogwarts. Scary, yeah. But we got . . . through it . . ." His voice trailed off.

Hermione canted her head. "Ron, what is it?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and turned away. "Stupid stuff. Don't worry about it."

"I'm your wife. It's my job to worry about you."

"Thanks, but I don't need you to." His voice went up as he stomped toward the dining room table.

Hermione began to forget about her fear. Anger replaced it. Something else was troubling Ron, something more than the usual fears of going into battle. And once again she'd have to rip down his emotional wall to get at it.

"You know, you can't say nothing's bothering you and walk away from me." She stepped toward him. "Is it me? Are you worried what might happen to me?"

"Well of course I'm worried about you." Ron spun around to face her. "You're my wife and I love you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow when she saw her husband draw in his lower lip and bite down on it.

"But that's not the only thing that's bothering you, is it?"

"Um . . . I don't know what you're talking about."

Hermione scowled. She closed the rest of the space between them with hard footfalls. "Ron, now is not the time to keep things from me. You remember what happened to . . . to Tonks and Professor Lupin. How many things did they never get the chance to say to one another?"

Ron closed his eyes and lowered his head. As hard as he tried, he couldn't keep his jaw from trembling.

"Ron. Please." Hermione gently grasped her husband's shoulder. "Talk to me."

Ron turned his head from her. "At least they had Teddy," he muttered.

"Teddy? What does he have to do with this?"

Hermione jumped when Ron banged a fist on the table. He looked back at her. Hermione held her breath when she noticed his eyes glisten with moisture.

"They left a part of themselves behind," he said, a slight quiver in his voice. "They have Teddy to carry on for them. What do I . . . we have? I keep trying, Hermione. I wanted so much for us to have a child. But I . . ."

He dropped his head. Tears formed in Hermione's eyes.

"You want a baby so bad," Ron mumbled. 'And I . . . it's like everything else in my life. I just can't do it right."

Hermione drew her head back, trying to keep a tear from rolling down her cheek. The strength she couldn't find for herself she now had to find for Ron's sake.

"Ron, the healers said sometimes it's just . . . well, it's just harder for some people."

"Always seems to be harder for me, doesn't it? It didn't take Bill long to get Fleur pregnant after they got married, did it?"

Hermione moved closer to him, her body pressing against his. She slid her arms around his neck. "Just because I haven't been able to get pregnant doesn't mean I think you're inadequate as a husband. You've always been there for me."

"That's a lie. I left you when we were looking for the Horcruxes."

"But you came back. Ron, I love you. I wish we did have a child like Bill and Fleur or Harry and Ginny. But there's nothing we can do about it now. And when we fight the Stacyx who knows . . ."

"Don't talk like that."

"Well I can't help it." The tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Eight hundred thousand of them, Ron. Even with all the heroes we've brought in from TV shows and movies, we're still outnumbered."

"We'll find a way to win."

"How do you know?"

Ron shrugged. "Don't we always? The Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Battle of Hogwarts. When it didn't seem possible, we managed to come out on top somehow."

Hermione tried to smile. "I hope we can do that this time."

"We will. We have to."

Hermione closed her eyes as Ron held her against his chest. All her fear and worry vanished. She could only feel content as she drew strength from Ron's embrace.

"When we've finished stomping the Stacyx into the ground," he said. "No matter what it takes, we're going to have a child."

Hermione looked up at him. This time she did nothing to halt the tears from cascading down her face.

Ron wiped her tears away and kissed her. It began as a gentle, comforting kiss. That soon led to open mouths, dueling tongues and roaming hands that clenched fistfuls of clothing and yanked them off.

XXXXX

"YO JOE!!"

Harry whirled around . . . and jumped out of the way as a line of animated male and female soldiers rushed out of a portal. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes, many festooned with all manner of weaponry, soon followed. He kept his gaze locked on GI JOE as they headed toward the command tent. They seemed a pretty impressive fighting unit. Harry was glad to have them aboard.

Even though it did nothing to change the fact his side remained outnumber.

_We'll just have to deal with it._ In a few hours, outnumbered or not, they would have no choice but to attack the Stacyx army.

Two people stepped suddenly stepped out of the tent next to him. He bumped into a tall, dark haired man with angular features.

"Sorry."

"Quite all right," Sean Connery's _James Bond _nodded to him. He then turned to Angelina Jolie's _Tomb Raider _and stroked her braided black hair. "I must say, Miss Croft, it certainly was enjoyable _uncovering_ such a wonderful _treasure."_

Lara Croft smiled, then kissed Bond.

Harry shook his head. Dean was right when he described James Bond to him. _Anywhere, anytime . . . with anyone._

"Harry! Hey, Harry!"

His chest tightened when he noticed Dennis running toward him, waving a small booklet.

"Harry, you won't . . . oh wow." Dennis' eyes widened as he stared past Harry's shoulder. "Was James Bond just shagging the _Tomb Raider_?"

"I didn't stop long enough to ask."

"Oh. Well anyway, you won't believe how many autographs I've got already. Colonel Carter from _Stargate_, _Naruto,_ _Robocop_, the Fourth Doctor. You know, the one with the long scarf. This is cooler than going to a Muggle science fiction convention."

Harry stared at Dennis' face, his wide-eyed enthusiasm. All he could think of was a similar look on Colin Creevey's face when Harry would simply say "hi" to him in the corridors of Hogwarts.

"Come here, Dennis. We need to talk."

"Sure."

Harry led Dennis past the gray armor suit of Alphonse Elric from _Fullmetal Alchemist _and to the rear of a nearby tent. He checked to make sure no one was within earshot.

"So what's up, Harry?"

Harry bit his lower lip. Several seconds passed before he could bring himself to speak. "I want you to go home."

Dennis' face contorted in a look mixed with confusion and surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You should go home. It's dangerous here."

"Well of course it's dangerous. We're on a battlefield . . . or it will be in a little while."

"You don't belong here, Dennis. You're not an auror."

"Okay, I'm not. But I am part of the D.A."

"There is no more D.A.!" Harry snapped.

Dennis' mouth fell open in shock.

Harry took a breath, settling himself. "This isn't a game, Dennis."

"I know that. I've seen what the Stacyx can do."

"Yeah, and it almost cost you your life."

"What, a nasty bump on the head?" Dennis patted his skull. "If this is the worst I get in this whole adventure I'll be fine with it."

"It is the worst you're going to get. I'm sending you home."

The surprise melted from Dennis' face. His aimed a firm gaze at Harry. "Like hell you are."

"I said I'm sending you home and I will, even if I have to arrest you!" Harry stomped over to Dennis. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let another Creevey die because of me."

Dennis' jaw tightened. He took a deep breath, locking eyes with Harry's. "Is that what this is about? Is that why you didn't want me to come in the first place? Because of Colin?"

Harry closed his eyes, trying to settle his breathing and rapid heartbeat. "Yes, it is. He died because he wanted to help me. Your mum and dad mourned him because of me. They already lost one son, I'm not going to let them lose another."

Dennis looked away for a second, clenching his fists. When he looked back, Harry saw an expression he'd never seen on either Creevey brother.

Dead seriousness.

"You know what, Harry. There are times when you can be one selfish bastard."

Harry blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You think Colin died because of you? You think Colin snuck back into Hogwarts just for you? What, do you think my brother's whole life revolved around you?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious. Always wanting to take my picture or have me sign his autograph book."

"Okay, fine. You were a hero to Colin. He practically worshipped you. Half the stories he told me at Hogwarts were, 'I shook Harry Potter's hand after he won the Quidditch match,' or 'Harry Potter loaned me his quill because I lost mine.' But you weren't the only reason he snuck back into the school the night of the battle. Remember, we're Muggle-born. Had Voldemort won, we'd _both_ be dead by now. He went back to fight for our right to survive, for _all_ Muggle-borns' right to survive. And yes, he died because of it. And yes, I still miss him more than you can imagine and wish he was here."

Harry couldn't look Dennis in the eye. _Selfish._ It was a term he never thought anyone would use to describe him. How many times did he face danger and pain by himself so his friends wouldn't?

He swallowed. Could Dennis have a point? How many times had he blamed himself for Fred's death? Did he get so caught up in his connection with Voldemort that he believed that was the sole reason for the last war? Had it never occurred to him that Fred and Colin and the others fought and died for something much larger than one scar-headed boy? That they fought and died so the world would not exist under the oppressive boot of a maniacal dark wizard?

"Harry." Dennis slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of what my brother did that night. He sacrificed his life so me, my parents, all Muggle-borns and Muggles could live. Voldemort wasn't just your fight. It was _everyone's_ fight. And the same is true now. My family's at risk, too, and I damn well am going to do something about it. So, unless you plan on stunning me and carrying my unconscious arse back to the real world, I'm staying."

Harry stared into Dennis' determined eyes. Slowly, a smile spread across Harry's face. He clasped Dennis on the shoulder. "You're right, Dennis. I'm sorry. And your brother would be proud of you."

"I know. Now . . ." He tapped Harry's arm with his autograph book. "I spied a couple of the _Doctor Who _companions around here. Rose Tyler and Nyssa. What say we go chat 'em up? Merlin's beard, they are hot."

"Dennis. I'm married."

"I know. But it couldn't hurt to have the famous Harry Potter put in a good word for his single friend."

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

XXXXX

"Madame Maxine. So good to see you." Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of the Hogwarts School for Wizarding and Witchcraft, shook hands with the red-headed giantess who ran the Beauxbatons school in France. Behind her stood several of her former students.

"It is a shame we could not meet under better circumstances. Unfortunately, these Stacyx have killed Muggles in our country as well. We stand ready to assist you."

"Your help is most appreciated. Our headquarters tent is over on that small rise. We're asking everyone to check in there."

"Very well." Madam Maxine turned to her charges. "This way, everyone."

She nodded to McGonagall and led the French contingent toward the tent.

McGonagall drew a deep breath and surveyed the area. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such a gathering of wizards and witches. Not just aurors from around the world, but members of the Order of the Phoenix and its sister organizations abroad. Britons, Irish, Americans, Canadians, French, Russians, Dutch, Poles, Egyptians, Israelis, Zulus, Chinese, Japanese, Australians, Brazilians, Panamanians. All united for one common cause.

_Hopefully not a lost cause._

Even with their allies from Muggle TV shows and movies, they would still be facing the Stacyx outnumbered. But with hours to go before that Muggle contraption landed on the Moon, they had no choice but to attack with whatever forces they had on hand.

Another portal opened near McGonagall. She wondered who'd be coming out. Another TV hero? Perhaps members of the Guild of the Light, the Order's counterpart in the States. She expected them here by now.

_Then again, Americans do like to make a grand entrance._

A single figure emerged from the portal, a wizened old man with just a few wisps of gray hair. McGonagall peered at his wrinkled face. Her forehead crinkled. Something about that face seemed familiar.

The man lifted his head and seemed to hold his breath. His eyes fixed on her.

McGonagall gasped, her hand covering her heart. In her mind the man's face became younger. His hair was thick and brown. His body wiry yet firm. Merlin's beard, she remembered how firm it was.

She pressed her hand harder against her chest, as if trying to hold in her beating heart.

"Bentley?"

"Hello, Minerva. It's been a long time."

Her mind catapulted her back in time nearly sixty years. The argument they had before Christmas, begging him to get help. He had screamed his head off, hurling all sorts of insults at her, including the one that hurt the most.

"_Traitor!"_

McGonagall had chucked her engagement ring on the floor and stormed out of his flat in tears. She hadn't seen or spoken to Bentley Basham since that horrible night.

"How . . . how are you?"

Bentley grunted. "Well, just like you said, I wasted my life. Thirty years I spent looking for the Stacyx. Never did find them. You're boy wonder did, though. Did in a day what I couldn't do in three decades."

McGonagall's mouth moved silently for several seconds. "Bentley, I'm . . . when I heard about the Stacyx . . . Oh Bentley, I'm so sorry."

"It's a little too late for that, isn't it? Sixty years too late."

McGonagall's lowered her head. Her stomach sank. "I wish I . . ."

"What? Had believed me? You did. You could have helped me find these things."

"I did help you."

"For what? Six stinking months. Then one day you decide Gridley's lies are more credible than the words coming from your fiancé's mouth."

McGonagall's legs quaked. Her cheeks twitched as moisture gathered in her eyes. "You . . . you just became so obsessed."

Bentley sneered. "Is that what _you_ thought, or did your parents convince you of that? Heaven forbid the almighty pure-blood McGonagall family that can trace its lineage back seven centuries admit a lowly Muggle-born into its bosom."

"My mother and father had nothing to do with my decision. I was the one around you every day. I saw how Gridley and the Stacyx consumed your life. You say you wanted my help? Toward the end you didn't even know I existed."

"And now look." Bentley swept his hand toward the distant hills, toward the direction of the Stacyx army. "They're real, Minerva. They're ready to invade our world again. Maybe if you'd stuck by me longer, we could have tracked down the remaining Stacyx. Destroyed them once and for all."

"Or we both could have spent decades looking for them and never found them."

"Well, we found them now. And that's why I'm here." Bentley pulled out his wand. "Where else do I have to go, anyway? As you said all those years ago, the Stacyx are my life."

McGonagall's throat tightened as she watched Bentley stomp off. She opened her mouth, trying to find the right words.

Her heart skipped a beat when Bentley stopped. He swung around, still scowling.

"Good-bye, Minerva."

He continued on without another word.

McGonagall sniffled, a tear running down her cheek.

"Yo, witchy-poo," someone said from behind.

McGonagall wiped her cheek and took a settling breath. Face set in a stone mask, she whipped around to find a stocky man clad in a black uniform and helmet and holding a slim rifle. Behind him stood fifty others decked out similarly.

"My name is Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Sir. And you are . . .?"

"Michael Garibaldi, Security Chief of _Babylon 5. _So is this where the big rumble's going down?"

"Yes. Please go to our headquarters tent and check in."

Garibaldi chuckled. "Check in. Do we get little stick-on nametags, too?"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Garibaldi as he and his troopers walked past her.

Moments later other portals opened. Dana Sterling's 15th Tactical Armored Corps from _Robotech, _Sergeant Sam Troy's Jeep-riding commandos from the TV show _The Rat Patrol_ and the boyish cowboys from the movie _Young Guns_ emerged around her. McGonagall forced out all thoughts and emotions regarding Bentley Basham from her mind. She had a battle to prepare for.

XXXXX

"Thank you very much." Dennis beamed as the woman in the dark red skin-tight uniform shook his hand.

"Sure thing." Jennifer Garner's _Elektra _nodded to him and headed off to join Batman from _Justice League_ and the Bruce Lee from _Enter the Dragon._

Dennis wagged his autograph book in front of Harry. _"Elektra, _Harry. I got _Elektra's_ autograph."

"You also got drool on your chin," Harry grinned.

Dennis chuckled and wiped his chin.

Another portal opened a few meters away. Dennis spun around, autograph book and quill at the ready.

But TV or movie characters didn't come out of this portal. Harry's eyes widened when he recognized a familiar face.

"What's the big idea, Harry?" A smiling George Weasley bounded out of the portal. "You set up the ultimate battle between good and evil and you don't invite your good friends to it?"

Harry stammered, trying to say something coherent. All attempts at speech failed when more people he recognized appeared behind his brother-in-law.

Neville Longbottom, the Patil twins, Seamus Finnigan, Ernie MacMillan, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Within a minute most of the D.A. stood before him.

"What? How?"

"Um, that would be my doing, Harry."

He turned to find Dean Thomas walking up to him, displaying his special galleon.

"Dean? What . . ."

"Hey, it's like Dennis said. 'Once in the D.A., always in the D.A.'"

Harry was about to express his reluctance about involving them in this fight, until he remembered Dennis' words.

This was their fight, too.

He plunged into the group, exchanging handshakes and hugs. By this time Ginny had joined them, along with her brothers Charlie, Percy and Bill and her sister-in-law Fleur.

Harry just broke from a hug with his former Quidditch teammate Alicia Spinnet when another portal appeared. A short gray-haired witch stepped out. It took Harry a few moments to recognize her face, which he'd seen on numerous newspapers and magazines.

Athena Esmeralda, the Headmistress of the Salem Witches Institute in the United States.

Another person followed her out of the portal. A young man with a solid athletic frame and brown hair. Harry knew him instantly.

"Jimmy Boy!" George threw out his arms.

Jimmy O'Bannon smiled. "I figured you'd be here for this one, bro."

The two hugged, pounding one another's backs. Other members of the D.A. crowded around Jimmy, as most of them had played on the Triad hockey team he formed during his one year at Hogwarts.

Other Americans came through the portal, a few Harry recognized as O'Bannon's closest friends from Salem. Rosa Infante, a very attractive Hispanic woman with long curled black hair and numerous earrings. Next came her short but muscular cousin Jared Diaz, followed by Artimus Rand, a tall man with a noticeable paunch.

"Jimmy." Harry walked over and shook hands with his American friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey. I'm part of the Guild of the Light. Besides, my buds in Britain need help, I'm there. I even managed to find my way to the movie _Slapshot_ and recruit the Hanson brothers. Wait till you see these guys kick ass."

"Where's Mireet?" Ginny asked about O'Bannon's wife, a former Beauxbatons student and member of the Triad.

"I had to put her on baby-sitting duty with Luna and Mrs. Tonks." The two women had agreed to watch the children of several of the wizards and witches here in _The Land That Time Forget, _including little James.

"Why?"

"'Cause she's got a bun in the oven."

Several D.A. members gave him quizzical looks.

O'Bannon sighed. "She's pregnant."

As they congratulated him, Ron and Hermione approached hand-in-hand. Harry worried how they might react to O'Bannon's good news when another portal opened.

Harry drew back his head in surprise when he saw Viktor Krum march out, leading a contingent of former Durmstrang students. Four of them bounded over to O'Bannon when they saw him. Harkorth, Tortorov, Kurdzeli and Velich, more former Triad players.

"Viktor?" Hermione stammered.

"Greetings, _Herm-o-nee-nee."_

They almost hugged, stopped, and settled for a handshake. Ron stood there scowling.

"I can't believe you're here. How did you know about this?"

"Harkorth is an auror in Romania. He alerted us. Said he needed as many good wizards and witches as possible to fight these Stacyx." Somehow a smile cracked his usually stony expression. "It is good to see you again, _Herm-o-nee-nee."_

"Um, you too." Hermione seemed to flush as Viktor bowed to her.

Ron cleared his throat loudly.

"Ronald. You are taking good care of _Herm-o-nee-nee?"_

"Of course I am."

Viktor grunted at him and turned toward Harry. "Harry. Good to see you."

"Likewise." He shook hands with the former Durmstrang champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "I'm glad you could be here. We could use all . . ."

The opening of another portal interrupted Harry.

"Wonder who we've got coming now?" Dean asked.

"_Charlie's Angels_ if we're lucky," joked O'Bannon.

But TV characters didn't step out of the portal. Harry froze when he saw a man with a pinched face and pale blond hair turn to him. A dozen other men and women formed up behind him.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Katie said with a look of disgust.

Ernie shook his head. "Are things really so desperate we need _their _help?"

Harry walked in between the harsh gazes exchanged by the two groups until he came face-to-face with the pinch-faced man.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

Draco Malfoy twisted his lips and forced out the words. "We're here to help."

"Help who?" Ron blurted. "Us or the Stacyx?"

Malfoy glowered at Ron, then looked back at Harry. "The Stacyx said they plan on exterminating _all_ wizards and witches. That includes me and my wife . . . and them." He jerked his head to the others behind him.

"Uh-huh. I guess that's somewhat noble of you." Even though Harry had saved Malfoy from the Fiendfyre, too much had happened between them to ever be friends. The best they could do was tolerate one another's existence.

"There's also another reason. Pansy's pregnant."

Lee and Justin groaned.

"Oh just what the world needs," O'Bannon muttered. "Another friggin' Malfoy."

Malfoy shot the American a dirty look. That look softened slightly when he turned back to Harry. "I would like my child to actually have a world to grow up in."

Harry's mouth tightened. He looked away for a moment, then scanned the other Slytherins. Goyle, Urquhart, Blaise Zabini, Miles Bletchley, Graham Montague, Millicent Bulstrode. How sincere were they about helping?

Grunting, Harry stared back at his old enemy. "All right. Check in at our headquarters tent."

Malfoy gave him a perfunctory nod and led his Slytherins away.

Harry looked back at his friends. George and Terry shook their heads. Angelina and O'Bannon looked ready to rip something, or someone, apart.

"Harry, can you really trust them?" asked Parvati Patil.

"Yeah," added her twin, Padma. "What's to stop them from going over to the Stacyx if things turn sour for us?"

"She's got a point, Harry." Ron glanced at the Slytherins in the distance. "Some of those guys were open supporters of Voldemort. They'll probably stab us in the back the first chance they get."

"I know I'm taking a chance, but we need all the help we can get. Still . . ." He turned to two members of his family. "Bill, Fleur. Keep an eye on them. Just in case."

"You got it, Harry." Bill nodded. He and Fleur headed after Malfoy's bunch.

"So what now, Harry?" asked Angelina.

"You can go check in at the headquarters tent. They'll figure out . . ."

"Hey!" Seamus interrupted him. "Who's that?"

Harry and the others turned. A man in heavy brown clothing and a coonskin cap approached on horseback.

"He's with us." Harry broke away from the group.

The man pulled back on the reins of his horse, halting it a couple meters from Harry.

"Mister Potter." Fes Parker's _Davy Crockett_ nodded to him. "You best get your friends ready. Those Stacyx are headed this way."

Harry's lungs seized up. Bone-chilling, invisible hands threatened to crush him. "How many?"

"Not sure exactly. Somewhere between eight to ten thousand. Probably comin' to soften us up before the rest of 'em show up."

"Thank you, Mister Crockett."

Crockett nodded and galloped off.

Slowly, Harry drew in a lungful of air. He took in the faces of each and every friend and family member. How he wanted to send them all home, where they'd be safe. He had no desire to add to his already long list of people to mourn.

But the looks of determination in their faces forced him to keep his tongue still.

They wanted to be here. They had to be here. They all had families to protect, just like him.

He straightened, pride swelling inside him. He was truly blessed to have people like these in his life.

"All right, everyone. Let's go."

They all fell in behind Harry, who led them toward the headquarters tent. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was already hurrying toward an earthen berm, leading several aurors and other Ministry employees. He was joined by McGonagall and the Order of the Phoenix, Headmistress Esmeralda and the Guild of the Light and Madame Maxine's contingent from France. Seconds later some of the Hogwarts staff arrived. Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra, Firenze the centaur . . . and Hagrid.

"Whoa." Padma's brow furrowed. "Did you feel that? Is that an earthquake?"

Professor McGonagall slowly shook her head. "Unfortunately, Miss Patil, I don't think so."

Harry felt it to. A constant drumbeat rolled underneath his feet and shook his legs. He gazed across the valley to a distant hill.

A purple wave crested the top. Inch by inch it engulfed the green-brown grass. Harry's heart beat furiously as the undulating wave continued forward.

A throaty wail carried across the valley. Cold pinpricks traveled up Harry's spine as thousands of Stacyx cried out in unison. He scanned the other wizards and witches around him. Some gulped, some shivered, a few even shed tears.

A horrific roar pounded his ears. The Stacyx broke into a full run, charging across the valley.

More than one person openly wept.

"Wait for my signal!" Kingsley Shacklebolt held his wand to his throat, magically amplifying his voice.

The wave of Stacyx drew closer.

Wizards and witches held up their wands. Elsewhere, guns cocked and energy weapons powered up with high-pitched whines.

"Wait for it!"

Harry licked his lips, sweat pouring down his forehead and stinging his eyes.

"Wait for it!"

His heart beat out of control. How much longer before . . .

Kingsley raised his wand. An orange contrail shot into the air and burst above them. It formed one large sparkling word.

ATTACK!

**NEXT: **_The Epic Battle begins._

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Jimmy O'Bannon, Rosa Infante, Jared Diaz, Artimus Rand and Headmistress Esmeralda are all original characters of mine who appear in my story _Incursion._ The story of the Triad hockey team is chronicled in my story _The Puck Drops Here._


	12. Chapter 12

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _The following contains lots and lots of violence that may make some uncomfortable. You have been warned._

* * *

For a split second, Harry felt engulfed by the worst thunderstorm ever.

Artillery burst all around him, shaking the very air. Tracers, energy blasts and spells of all colors streaked across the valley. Rainbow-like explosions snaked through the charging Stacyx. Hundreds fell. Others fended off the dazzling barrage with their shields.

Stacyx mind blasts rained down on them. Hammer-like blows struck the ground non-stop. Harry saw two German aurors thrown back by an explosion. They rolled across the ground and lay still. A battery of Union Army cannons from the movie _Gettysburg_ were reduced to smoldering wrecks, along with the soldiers manning them. A _GI Joe_ Havoc combat vehicle rolled up and launched every missile it carried. Geysers of flame consumed about three dozen Stacyx. Sergeant Knox and his Space Marines from _Star Blazers_ fired their bopper guns. The fat rockets crashed into the Stacyx horde. Bodies and body parts soared into the air, propelled by fireballs.

Harry shot Redactor Curse after Redactor Curse at the charging creatures, joined by Hermione, George, Lee and Susan Bones. Some of the spells didn't penetrate the Stacyx shields. Others did, causing the creatures to burst like rotten melons. Nearby, the Patil twins cast Body-Bind Spells while Kingsley Shacklebolt formed Firerain Clouds over the Stacyx. Dozens of creatures turned into living matchsticks, screaming and flailing until they fell to the ground dead.

Son Goku from _Dragonball Z_ sent out a chi energy blast that incinerated several Stacyx. McGonagall, Flitwick and Percy cast shield charms to deflect several mind blasts. A bulky humanoid-like mobile suit from _Gundam Wing_ stumbled and fell, spouting flame and smoke from numerous mind blast hits. The John Stewart Green Lantern from _Justice League _formed a plow with his power ring and bowled over several Stacyx. The stocky Autobot Gears from the _Transformers _cartoon cried out when a mind blast severed his leg. Armored vehicles with radar dishes brought over from the _Godzilla_ movies sliced apart numerous Stacyx with laser beams.

Still they kept coming.

"What does it take to stop these things?" Artimus Rand's face went pale as he stared at the advancing horde, now just 400 meters from them.

Harry didn't answer. He just fired spell after spell. The ground quaked from artillery strikes and Stacyx footfalls. Whole areas of brush burned. A thick haze of smoke formed over the battlefield, carrying the stench of cordite, burning metal . . . and burning flesh.

A Portuguese auror carried Professor Sinistra away from the battle, the astronomy professor's left arm reduced to shredded, bloody strips. Terry Boot flopped on the ground, hand slapped over his eyes.

"I can't see! I can't see!"

Madam Pomfrey, Hawkeye Pierce from _MASH_, Dr. _House_ and Dr. Stephen Franklin from _Babylon 5_ rushed around the battlefield, tending to the wounded. Several were beyond help.

The air grew thick with bullets, spells, energy bolts and mind blasts. Fountains of dirt exploded all over the valley. Clumps of Stacyx fell or were tossed into the air.

So were clumps of wizards, witches and TV and movie characters.

Harry's heart pounded furiously. He hacked on the ever thickening smoke and continued to cast spells. How the hell would anyone survive this?

A blue insectoid helicopter soared over the battlefield. _Blue Thunder_ dove on the charging Stacyx, blazing away with its gatling gun. Large caliber rounds tore through the creatures. Dozens fell dead.

Another helicopter appeared . . . _Airwolf._ Missiles and 30mm chain gun rounds laced the Stacyx, their bodies exploding into chunks of dark colored meat.

A green animated flying dragon swooped in. Zok from _The Herculoids._ Lasers shot from its eyes and tail, slicing apart numerous Stacyx. Behind the dragon came a Sopwith Camel piloted by _Biggles_. The World War I fighter plane's twin Vickers machine guns chopped up more Stacyx.

Still they kept coming. Now just 100 meters away.

A mind blast took off the head of a Colombian auror. U.S. Cavalry soldiers from the movie _She Wore a Yellow Ribbon_ fell to more Stacyx fire. Storm of the _X-Men_ summoned lightning bolts to fry several of the creatures. Basketball-sized Zeroids from the TV show _Terrahawks_ kept up a steady stream of laser fire. Two dozen Stacyx crumpled to the ground.

The rest surged forward, unleashing blood-curdling shrieks.

Fifty meters away.

"Looks like we're going to have to go hand-to-hand with these bastards," said Bentley Basham as his blew up a Stacyx with a Redactor Curse.

Men in gold helmets and red cloaks hurried past Harry and his comrades. A bearded man cried out, "SPARTANS!! PREPARE FOR GLORY!!"

Leonidas and his Spartans from the movie _300_ formed a human wall and interlocked their shields. None of them budged as the Stacyx drew closer.

The mass of bodies collided. The Spartans dug their heels in and held the Stacyx at bay.

Mind blasts cut several Spartans in two. Other Spartans thrust their swords forward, stabbing and ripping Stacyx flesh.

More men rushed past Harry. Hundreds upon hundreds. Mel Gibson's William Wallace from _Braveheart _and Kirk Douglas' _Spartacus _led their Scotsman and slave army into the sea of Stacyx. Swords and clubs rose and fell. Mind blasts connected at point blank range. Red blood and oily black blood gushed into the air. Heaps of men and Stacyx dropped to the ground. The grass changed color from a brownish-green to a dark reddish-black. Men and Stacyx slipped on the bloody ground. Still they hung on to one another, punching and clawing and stabbing.

"They're penetrating our flanks!" McGonagall warned.

Harry looked to the left. Clint Eastwood's U.S. Marines from the movie _Heartbreak Ridge_ and Captain Dick Winters' World War II paratroopers from the mini-series _Band of Brothers_ fell back before hundreds of Stacyx. _Herbie the Car_ sped past the retreating Americans and crashed into the Stacyx line. Several creatures bounced off the sentient car's hood and spun through the air. Herbie took out at least thirty Stacyx before mind blasts reduced the car to a flaming wreck.

Harry, Seamus, Viktor and Montague unleashed Repulsing Spells. Several Stacyx went flying through the air. A mind blast blew apart the torso of an Italian auror.

TV and movie characters plunged into the horde. Ash from the _Evil Dead_ movies swung his chainsaw hand. Stacyx limbs and heads spiraled through the air. _Naruto_ and his Shadow Clones pummeled Stacyx with fists and feet. Duncan MacLeod from _Highlander _and Aragorn from _Lord of the Rings_ lashed out with their swords. Several Stacyx spun and fell dead.

"Heads up!" yelled Bentley Basham.

Harry blew apart another Stacyx with a Redactor Curse before turning to the front. Stacyx leaked through the human barrier of Spartans, Scotsman and slave soldiers. Harry and the other wizards and witches backed away from the earthen berm they used for cover as the creatures leaped over it.

"_Freezium!"_ Jimmy O'Bannon cast a freezing spell, turning several Stacyx into ice statues. Rosa Infante snapped her wand up in an arc. Part of the ground ripped free. An earthen tsunami rolled over numerous Stacyx. The Brigadier from _Doctor Who_ and several of his UNIT soldiers stepped forward and sprayed the creatures with their stubby Sten Guns. Captain Jack Sparrow from _Pirates of the Caribbean _took out one Stacyx with his flintlock pistol before pulling out his sword and slashing through their ranks.

Harry snapped off one spell after another. Stacyx started running past him. The Hanson Brothers from _Slapshot_ tackled one and beat the hell out of it.

"Whaaaa-ooooh!" The Bruce Lee from _Enter the Dragon_ launched quick kicks and punches at the creatures, knocking down several.

Hawkgirl from _Justice League_ swung her mace while _Ghost Rider_ whipped around his chain. The two left piles of dead and injured Stacyx at their feet.

Any semblance of lines had vanished. Stacyx intermingled with wizards, witches and their TV and movie allies. Harry tied up a creature with a Constricting Spell as it bore down on him. Dean Thomas brought down another Stacyx with a Stunning Spell. Miles Bletchley used a Firebolt Curse to incinerate a Stacyx. He searched for more creatures to kill . . . and never saw the one that snuck up behind him. One swipe of the Stacyx's clawed hand nearly severed Bletchley's head. He was dead before he crumpled to the ground.

"Minister!"

Harry's father-in-law, Arthur Weasley, hurried over to Kingsley Shacklebolt. He brought down two Stacyx before reaching the Minister of Magic.

"The Stacyx opened a portal behind us! They're pouring through!"

"I have that covered, Arthur."

Kingsley sent a Patronus through the smoky haze that enveloped the battlefield. Harry watched the ethereal white form soar over Disney's _Kim Possible_ and Ichigo Kurosaki from the Anime _Bleach_ as they battered Stacyx with chops and kicks. It glided over the rear of the tent city, making contact with numerous TV and movie characters.

Less than a minute later Veritech fighter jets from _Robotech_ soared over the trees and transformed into humanoid-like Battloid mode. Their huge laser cannons blasted dozens of Stacyx. Cartoon vehicles sped toward the charging creatures and transformed into large robots. Turbo, Hans-Cuff and Smallfoot from _Challenge of the Gobots _and Jazz, Hot Rod and Warpath from _Transformers_ sent a myriad of multi-colored laser bolts into the Stacyx horde. Geysers of dirt shot into the air, carrying dozens of purple-skinned creatures. The Stacyx retaliated with mind blasts. Two Veritechs collapsed in flames. Hans-Cuff fell, his right arm blown off. The caped mecha _Escaflowne_ jumped into the fray, swinging its huge sword and cutting down whole swaths of Stacyx.

"Die you ugly brain-sucking sons-a-bitches!"

George C. Scott's _Patton_ stomped through the fight, firing his pearl-handled Colt .45 at the Stacyx. Two dropped dead before he reached Kingsley.

"Something isn't right with this, Minister," he said in a gruff voice. "This is only a fraction of the Stacyx force."

"I noticed that too, General." Kingsley shot a Repulsing curse at an approaching Stacyx. "I think this is attack is just meant to delay us until the Moon landing takes place."

"Well we can't let that happen." Patton reloaded his pistol.

"What do you suggest?" Kingsley hit another Stacyx with a Body-Bind Curse.

"Hit the weakest part of their line, breakthrough and don't stop until we reach their camp and kill every single one of these devil-looking bastards."

Kingsley nodded. "Take whatever forces you need, General. We'll hold them off here."

Patton saluted and hurried off, shooting at more Stacyx along the way.

Kingsley waved his wand. Huge wooden spikes shot from the ground and impaled numerous Stacyx. Hagrid grabbed one of the creatures by the throat and tossed him over his shoulder.

"Harry! Look out!"

Harry whipped around at Hermione's warning. A Stacyx stood over him, arm reared back. Harry ducked under the swipe. He aimed his wand down and cast a Weight Charm. The creature's feet soon weighed the equivalent of a large boulder. Much as he tried to move, the Stacyx remained rooted to the spot.

Detective Elliot Stabler from _Law & Order: SVU_ came up behind it and put a bullet into its brain.

Hermione blew up two more Stacyx with Redactor Curses. The Patil twins used another spell to collapse the ground under four Stacyx. The large, deformed Mister Hyde from the movie _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen _battered Stacyx with his huge fists. Ron dropped another creature with a Stunning Spell. A mind blast struck close to Katie Bell, knocking her off her feet. A Stacyx moved in to finish her, but the former Triad hockey players from Durmstrang, Kurdzeli and Velich, jumped on the creature and rained fists on it.

"_Sectumsempra!_" Harry cried out. A huge bloody gash opened on a Stacyx's chest. It stumbled and fell face first onto the ground.

Hundreds of Stacyx rushed about him, fighting his friends and allies. A carpet of tall purple bodies covered the ground. More Stacyx joined their dead brethren.

But they never retreated an inch.

Gunfire roared. Lasers whined. Mind blasts shrieked. Fire swept over grass and trees. The smoke clogged his nose and lungs. Harry couldn't go more than a half-minute without hacking; the same with everyone else around him.

Thomas Jane's _Punisher_ blazed away with an M-4 rifle. Burt Gummer from the movie _Tremors_ chucked homemade explosives, blowing apart several Stacyx. _Spawn _used the chains of his dark costume to slice Stacyx in two. A dark-skinned cartoon character in baggy clothes with musical notes swirling around him danced into the battle.

"_Hammer Man! Hammer Man! Hammer -"_

A Stacyx jumped in the air and landed on Hammer Man, crushing him into a bloody puddle.

Harry blew the creature apart with a Redactor Curse.

He glanced around, trying to see if General Patton was on his way to launch the counter-attack. He scowled when he saw no sign of it.

Bodies piled up around him; Stacyx, wizards, witches, TV and movie characters. It became impossible to move without stepping around, over or on a corpse. A few times Harry lost his balance, his shoes slick with blood. A Stacyx grabbed Michael Corner by the throat and squeezed. Before it could kill the D.A. member, Ginny hit it in the face with a Bat-Bogey Hex. Michael's wife, the former Cho Chang, cast a Petrifying Spell on the creature. The two women turned to one another and simply nodded. Cho ran over to her husband, who held his throat and wheezed. Ginny, meanwhile, nailed another Stacyx with a curse that turned its bones to rubber.

Harry kept taking out Stacyx. But no matter how many of the creatures he and his friends killed, maimed or stunned, they kept coming, kept fighting. Several fighters on his side had to be carted off the battlefield and to the hospital tents, including Millicent Bulstrode and Hannah Abbott. Harry's stomach knotted. They were already going to be outnumbered when they met the main Stacyx army. Now when the final showdown came, they'd have to do it with far less men and women.

_If we ever do meet them._

Harry cut open two more Stacyx with the Sectumsempra Curse. At this rate the Minister of Magic's prediction would come true. These Stacyx would delay them long enough for the rest to commence their invasion of the real world.

A monstrous roar pierced the dull buzz in Harry's ears. He glanced to the right.

Puppet-like Tyrannosaurs, Ceratosaurs and Allosaurs lumbered out of the forest, guided by spells from Charlie Weasley and several other dragon handling wizards. The dinosaurs, native animals here in _The Land That Time Forgot_, plunged their snouts into the Stacyx horde. Each one rose with its maw filled with wriggling Stacyx. As they chewed, mind blasts pierced their hides. Several of the dinosaurs fell before they could swallow their meals.

While the Stacyx were focused on the dinosaurs, Dana Sterling's tank platoon from _Robotech_ charged toward the enemy's left flank. Laser blasts ravaged the demonic-like creatures. World War II tanks from _Patton_ and machine gun-toting Jeeps from _The Rat Patrol_ followed the _Robotech_ tanks. Shells and large caliber bullets cut down Stacyx. Fountains of dirt exploded all around the creatures, hurling them into the air. Three tanks exploded after hits from several mind blasts. Another dinosaur fell dead, its snout stained with the oily blood of devoured Stacyx.

As another of _Patton's_ tanks went up in a fireball, five huge AT-TE walkers from _Star Wars: Attack of the Clones_ marched out of the forest. Hundreds of white armored Clone troopers ran alongside them. A swarm of energy bolts streaked through the smoky air and burst among the Stacyx. The walkers continued on, their armor withstanding mind blasts. Their huge feet trampled numerous Stacyx.

"Look!" Ron, his face dirtied by soot, pointed. "They're running away!"

Indeed the Stacyx were running . . . but not away. Many of them hurried off to strengthen their crumbling left flank. Many of the potential reinforcements were met by _Superman, _Thor from _The Avengers _cartoons and the Thing from the _Fantastic Four_ movies. The three heroes fended off mind blasts and lashed out with fists, and in Thor's case his hammer. Two hundred creatures lay immobile at their feet in less than two minutes.

"Look out!" yelled Viktor Krum.

Harry and the other wizards and witches around him parted quickly for a herd of black-clad men on horseback; Ardeth Bey and his Medjai from _The Mummy _movies. They swept into the Stacyx right flank, firing rifles and slashing with their swords. Several of the Medjai and their horses vanished under packs of Stacyx. Others kept fighting.

Minutes later more men on horseback arrived; The Riders of Rohan from _Lord of the Rings_. They joined the Medjai, swinging their swords with fury. Screams of agony joined with screams battle rage. Both riders and Stacyx fell. Many Medjai and Riders jumped from their horses to fight the creatures on foot. Arms and swords swung non-stop. Blood covered the living and the dead.

Harry swallowed a breath and stared wide-eyed at the savage fight. He suddenly realized more Medjai and Riders stood than Stacyx.

"Now's our chance!" Kingsley shouted. "Come on!"

The Minister of Magic waved them forward. Battle cries went up, including one from Harry. The air filled with spells of every color. Stacyx exploded or fell.

Almost everyone tripped over the thousands of corpses strewn about the valley. Harry's hands and robes became slick with the blood of the dead. Still he kept running and casting spells. Out the corner of his eye he spotted Malfoy take down a Stacyx with a Cruciatus Curse. The creature spasmed and shrieked.

Now the surviving Stacyx broke ranks and fled to the hills in the distance. The wizards, witches and TV and movie characters kept after them, yelling and shooting. Some Stacyx halted and fired mind blasts to cover their retreating comrades. They were quickly swept aside.

High-pitched roars sounded overhead. Harry looked up. Veritech fighters, E-Frames from _Exo-Squad_ and mobile suits from _Gundam Wing_ dove on the retreating Stacyx. Rockets, lasers and shells churned up the ground around the creatures. Hundreds fell. F4U Corsair fighters from the TV show _Black Sheep Squadron_ arrived and strafed the Stacyx. They were followed by black and white P-40 Warhawks from the John Wayne movie _The Flying Tigers_, their wing-mounted machine guns blazing. More Stacyx fell.

The pursuit of the Stacyx slowed as the fighters had to catch their breath. Harry watched the surviving Stacyx hurry over a hill and out of sight. There couldn't be more than a thousand left.

_But there's a lot more where that came from._

Harry and his allies advanced. He checked his watch. Three hours before the Moon Landing. They were bloodied and in desperate need of rest. But Harry knew they couldn't think that way right now. No matter the risks, they had to attack the Stacyx camp now.

An hour later they reached the hill overlooking the enemy encampment. A shudder went through Harry. When he glanced around him, he noticed everyone else shudder.

They valley below was filled with Stacyx, stretching into the horizon.

Cold wrapped around Harry and plunged into the pit of his stomach. He thought of the battle they just had. The intensity, the violence, the horror.

It would be nothing compared to what was about to come.

"Well, I guess this is it." Hermione's voice quivered.

All Harry could do was nod. He forced his head to turn in Kingsley's direction, waiting for the Minister of Magic to give the order to attack.

Instead, the man raised a hand. "Hold."

"What?" Harry murmured. What the hell were they waiting for?

"Hey! Look at that." Dennis pointed.

Harry followed his friend's finger. His brow furrowed when he spotted three Stacyx approaching, the one in the middle more muscular than any of its brethren. It also sported a white stripe down its torso.

What amazed Harry the most was the Stacyx on the left. It was carrying a white flag.

The trio got within five meters of them before the large Stacyx spoke.

"I am Ner'kral, Overmaster of the Stacyx. I wish . . . to negotiate."

* * *

_If you think this is over, think again. This battle was just a warm-up act._


	13. Chapter 13

The surprise hit Harry like a physical force. _Negotiate?_ Did he hear right? This Overmaster Ner'kral wanted to start a dialogue when his troops were just a couple hours away from invading the real world? When they outnumbered Harry and his allies?

From the past Mad-Eye Moody's voice echoed in his mind. _"Watch out, Potter. It's a trap."_

Harry always felt the old auror was an overly-paranoid sort. But as he had been apt to say, _"A little paranoia can lead to a long life."_

He tried to channel some of Mad-Eye's paranoia as Kingsley Shacklebolt approached the Overmaster.

"I am Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic for the United Kingdom. What is it . . ."

"I do not wish to speak with you," Ner'kral hissed. "I will only deal with the one who we first encountered."

Harry glanced to the wizened form of Bentley Basham. He found it strange Ner'kral would want to talk to the man who nearly wiped out his entire race.

"Where is the wizard called Harry Potter?"

His entire body seized up. His mind played back the Overmaster's words. The creature wanted to talk to him? Why him? He was just an auror.

"As Minister I can speak for . . ."

A harsh bubbling sound came from Ner'kral's throat. "I will talk to Harry Potter, and _only_ Harry Potter, or I shall take my leave."

Kingsley worked his jaw back and forth. Several seconds of silence passed before he turned to Harry. "Potter." He nodded for him to come over.

Harry forced himself not to swallow. He took slow steps toward the large Stacyx. Tension knotted all his muscles.

He halted a couple meters from Ner'kral. "I'm Harry Potter. Why do you want to talk to me?"

"According to Scout Leader Bletzar, you were the one who followed us into our world. Therefore you are the one most familiar with us."

"If he said so. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

"A deal that could be mutually beneficial to both our races."

"How about this deal? Don't invade our world, stop killing Muggles and we'll leave you alone."

Ner'kral's body bobbed with a phlegm-covered laugh. "That is impossible."

"Then we have nothing to talk about."

Harry started to turn away when Ner'kral said. "Hear me out, wizard. I am willing to leave your people in peace."

Harry's brow wrinkled. "When you mean my people, are you talking about humans in general, or wizards in particular?"  
"Wizards, of course."

"Why do I find that hard to believe? After all, a wizard nearly destroyed your race over sixty years ago."

"True." Ner'kral nodded. "But look at the forces arrayed in this valley."

Arms outstretched, Ner'kral twisted his body first toward his Stacyx, then to Harry and his allies. "How many perished in our first battle? And that attack I initiated merely to probe your strengths and weaknesses. What will happen when both our armies meet at full strength? You will lose many, but so will I. And I cannot afford massive losses. So I propose a non-aggression pact with your people."

Harry just stared at the Stacyx Overmaster, not sure what to say.

The creature continued. "I propose that my people will let the Wizarding World live in peace, and you will do the same for us."

"What's the catch?" Harry's eyes narrowed at Ner'kral.

"Leave the Muggles to us. Let us use them as our livestock, do not interfere as we carve out an empire in the real world, and we will not attack you."

"And if you're running about in the real world, how will you be able to extract Muggle brain waves if they're not in front of a TV?"

Ner'kral's lips drew back in a sinister smile. "After all the brain waves we will have absorbed in our initial attack, we will be strong enough to break into more active Muggle brains. And if we ever have trouble with that, we can always force our livestock in front of a TV. We will be their masters. They will have no choice but to obey."

"Do you really think people are just going to march to their deaths without putting up a fight?" Hermione blurted.

"They are livestock. Livestock will not resist. We will make sure of that."

Cold fingers scratched Harry's back. The way Ner'kral spoke he could have been a disciple of Voldemort's.

"Why do you even need to invade our world?" asked Blaise Zabini. "You can just go from program to program and suck out the brain waves of all these TV characters."

Harry scanned the faces of many of the TV and movie characters nearby. Ziva from _NCIS_, Jason Bourne from _The Bourne Identity_ and Tom Baldwin from _The 4400 _all glared at Zabini, looking ready to break the Slytherin's neck.

Harry debated in his mind whether or not he should stop it if they tried.

"They can't do that." Bentley Basham gazed at the TV and movie characters. "These people aren't real."

Quizzical looks formed on the faces of many of the characters. Suddenly Dean Winchester from _Supernatural _punched his brother Sam in the shoulder.

"Ow! Dean! What the hell?"

Dean grinned. "You seem real to me, Sammy."

"I mean, while these characters look real, act real, they are still just a combination of electronic signals. They don't have brain waves like people in our world. To these scum . . ." Basham scowled at Ner'kral. "They would be nothing more than empty bowls."

Ner'kral growled. "Such visceral hatred. Are you by chance Muggle-born? Did we feed on someone you cared for?"

"I am Muggle-born, but you didn't kill anyone I ever loved. Though I may have killed your father, and probably a lot more of your relatives on the _Titanic."_

Ner'kral gasped and stepped back, as did the Stacyx flanking him. All three widened their red eyes. Harry had seen similar reactions from wizards and witches at the mere mention of the name Voldemort.

"'Death That Walks.'"

Harry swore the Overmaster's voice quivered.

Ner'kral took some deep breaths, his blood red orbs locked on Basham. "I had hoped the passage of time would have taken you by now. But then again, you wizards can live much longer than Muggles."

A wicked grin crossed Basham's lips. "I couldn't die just yet. I still have some unfinished business to take care of, Overmaster."

Ner'kral's face twisted. Another bubbling groan emanated from his throat. He whipped his misshapen head toward Harry. "You have heard my terms, wizard. If you wish to spare your people any suffering, you will accept them . . . and you will also give us 'Death That Walks.'" He pointed emphatically at Basham. "He must pay for almost wiping us out."

"Take the deal."

All eyes turned to Malfoy's pack of Slytherins. Urquhart detached himself from the group. "What the hell do we owe the Muggles anyway? Are they really worth any of our lives?"

Rage burned through Harry. His shoulders rose and fell with harsh breaths. He eyed Malfoy. His old enemy made no move to silence Urquhart. Did the bastard agree with him? Was he indifferent to the destruction of the Muggle World?

"We've already lost enough of our kind," said Urquhart. "Including a lot of pure bloods. I say we let the Stacyx do whatever they want with the Muggles, and this worthless old man. Then we can -"

"You go to hell, Urquhart!"

Harry's eyes darted away from the Slytherin. Dennis Creevey thrashed about as George Weasley and Ernie MacMillan held him back. Dennis' teeth were bared, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Why don't we give _you _over to the Stacyx, you piece of garbage!"

Dennis wasn't the only Muggle-born who needed to be restrained. Seamus Finnigan had to step in front of Dean Thomas, who aimed a fiery stare at Urquhart. Rosa Infante and Jared Diaz took hold of the arms of Jimmy O'Bannon, whose face was contorted in a mask of rage.

Urquhart looked around at the other members of the D.A. and O'Bannon's American contingent. Their glares forced him back into the group of Slytherins. He said nothing more.

"Well," Ner'kral began. "At least there's one wizard who has some sense. Can I say the same for you, Harry Potter?"

Harry's face tightened as he slowly turned to the Stacyx Overmaster.

"The deal, Potter. Do you accept?"

Harry exhaled slowly through his nostrils. He glanced over at O'Bannon, Rosa and Jared, then looked back at Ner'kral.

"As the Americans would say, take your deal and stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

Ner'kral snarled, showing all his pointy teeth. "Then you have condemned your kind to death!"

"No, Ner'kral! You've condemned your people. I saw what our allies can do back at our camp. Right down to the last man, woman and alien, we won't stop fighting until we've defeated you. And we _will_ defeat you."

The Overmaster's left cheek twitched. "You think so, Potter? You think these warriors you've recruited from TV shows and movies will be enough to defeat us?"

"Yes, I do."

Ner'kral growled. Suddenly, the anger lines etched in his hideous face vanished. He emitted a bubbling chuckle.

"Well, you have your allies . . . and I have mine."

Ner'kral closed his eyes. A blue wave of energy snaked out of his skull and shot into the sky. Below them thousands of similar mind bolts rose from the Stacyx horde.

Harry's heart thumped out of control. He gripped his wand tight as his eyes darted to the myriad of Stacyx energy waves.

White shimmering portals opened on the ground and in the sky. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands.

"Oh my God," Ginny said in a hushed voice.

Figures emerged from the portals on the ground. In the sky numerous vessels of all shapes and sizes appeared. His mind raced through all the descriptions Dean and Dennis gave him on the enemies of the characters they recruited.

Stormtroopers from the original _Star Wars_, along with their Imperial Walkers and TIE fighters. Orcs from _Lord of the Rings._ Cylindrical warships of the Zentraedi and clam-shaped troop carriers of the Invid from _Robotech_. Soldiers and armored vehicles of the Soviet Army from the movie _Red Dawn. _The canine-like army of Anubis from _The Mummy Returns. _Huge Goa'uld ships from _Stargate SG-1._ Giant ants from the movie _Them._ Thin humanoid robots from the movie _I, Robot._ The giant robot Decepticons from _Transformers._ Borg cubes from _Star Trek._ Squat alien fighters from the movie _Independence Day._ The three-headed winged monster King Ghidorah from the _Godzilla _movies. Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans from _Dr. Who. _The black boomerang-shaped Martian warships from the 1953 _War of the Worlds_ movie. Aku and his robot army from _Samurai Jack._ Zombies from the movie _Resident Evil: Apocalypse_.

Ron Weasley's face lost all its color. He swallowed, gazing out at the newly arrived enemy army.

"Oh, this is really bad."

"No it's not." O'Bannon shook his head, never taking his eyes off the Stacyx reinforcements. "We're _waaay_ past really bad."

Ner'kral laughed. Softly at first. The phlegm-coated laugh grew louder, more maniacal. The Stacyx Overmaster threw back his head.

"DESTROY THEM!!!"

* * *

**NEXT: **_The _Real _Epic Battle_


	14. Chapter 14

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_The following contains scenes of intense violence. You have been warned._

* * *

Harry turned away from the blinding display of energy bolts and tracers streaking through the sky. Continuous hammer blows struck the earth. Harry fought to keep his balance against the never-ending quake.

In the end he fell to the ground.

Thunderclaps battered his ears. He gazed around. Fireballs sprouted across the valley. Three GI JOE Mauler tanks were reduced to flaming wrecks. Lasers from the _Independence Day_ alien fighters disintegrated two mobile suits from _Gundam 0080_. Lightning bolts from King Ghidorah's three mouths blew apart the Autobot Bluestreak and the Gobot Tri-Tracks. Energy discs from the crab-like Invid wiped out an entire group of combat vehicles from _Megaforce._

Wizards and witches cast shield spells. Many strained their faces as they tried to hold off the barrage. A few shields collapsed, incinerating the men and women behind them.

Harry grunted and got to one knee, wand extended, searching for targets.

"DIE, FLESH THING!!"

The Decepticon Starscream descended toward him, arm-mounted lasers aimed at him.

Harry cast a shield spell just in time. The blast struck his barrier. Harry closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as a tremor shot through his body. Starscream fired again. Every muscle in Harry's body cried out in agony. How long could he hold this spell before . . .

"_Constrictus!"_

Vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around Starscream. The evil Transformer wailed as he fought to free himself.

Harry lowered his shield and turned around. Hermione stood just a meter away, wand aimed at Starscream.

Before she could cast another spell, a large blue robotic foot smashed Starscream.

Both Harry and Hermione craned their necks. _Megas XLR_ stood over them. It stomped off, leaving the wreckage of Starscream in a foot-shaped crater, and grappled with Mechagodzilla.

"Harry! Are you okay?" Hermione helped him to his feet.

"Yeah. For now."

Harry stared through the maelstrom of lasers and tracers. Sleek White Star warships from _Babylon 5_ dove on the Zentraedi fleet. Energy bolts criss-crossed the sky between a group of Daleks and a combined squadron of E-Frames from _Exo-Squad_ and mobile suits from _Gundam 0083._ _Enterprise _from the original _Star Trek_ and _Prometheus _from _Stargate SG-1_ fired on a Visitor mothership from the mini-series _V._ Gesyers of flame burst from the large flying saucer. But before _Enterprise _and _Prometheus _could finish their attack, TIE fighters swarmed over them.

A Chig fighter from _Space: Above and Beyond _snuck up on a computer generated U.S. F-4 Phantom from the program _Dogfights_ and blew it to pieces. Flames poured out of the original _Battlestar Galactica_ as it exchanged fire with a Borg cube. Captain Joe Sullivan of _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_ swooped down on a dragon from _Reign of Fire_ and shredded both its wings with machine gun fire.

Hundreds of fireballs tumbled from the sky. Flaming wreckage fell among the combatants. Harry watched as one artificial comet smashed into a group of robots from _I, Robot._ Another piece crushed an entire SG team.

"Harry!"

Harry whipped his head to the right. His heart skipped when a line of tracers sliced into the dirt in front of Viktor Krum. The Bulgarian dove to the ground, rolled on his side and hit two Soviet soldiers from _Red Dawn_ with Stunning Spells. He then crawled the rest of the way to Harry and Hermione.

"Viktor!" Hermione said breathlessly. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine." A brief smile crossed his lips as he looked to Hermione. His gaze shifted to Harry. "Our right flank is being hit hard. We need more people to strengthen it."

"We're with you!"

Harry turned and briefly took in the entire battlefield. Lasers, bullets, shells and spells cut through the air and churned up the ground. The giant robot _Big O_ swept out its huge fists, barely holding off both the mutated dinosaur from _The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms_ and the giant CGI Komodo Dragon from the movie _Komodo. _Falkor the Luckdragon from _The Never-Ending Story _and Saphira from _Eragon_ breathed continuous streams of fire onto advancing Orcs. As hundreds of the deformed Middle Earth creatures fell to the ground in flames, the two dragons turned to a large group of Imperial Stormtroopers.

With a savage roar, _Dinocroc _pounced on Saphira. The two beasts twisted and swiped at one another. Falkor turned to help, only to be bashed in the head by a claw from the giant lobster from _Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster._

Harry grimaced. He had a feeling within minutes the right flank wouldn't be the only part of their line in trouble.

Taking a deep breath, he got to his feet and dashed off with Viktor, Hermione right behind them. The Bulgarian covered them with a Shield Spell. Tracers and bolts bounced off it continuously. Goa'uld fighters strafed Mel Gibson's First Air Cavalry from the movie _We Were Soldiers_. John Wayne's U.S. Marines from _The Sands of Iwo Jima_ cut down Velociraptors from _Jurassic Park _with rifle and machine gun fire. Lasers from Astro Fighters from _Star Blazers _chopped up MiGs from the movie _Iron Eagle._ As fiery pieces of the last enemy jet spiraled toward the earth, the Decepticons Thundercracker, Astrotrain and Thrust, joined by several classic Cylon Raiders, dove on the Astro Fighters. The laser storm turned several of them into fireballs.

Harry, Hermione and Viktor dove into a shell crater. Through the veil of smoke Harry saw others around him; Ernie MacMillan, Alicia Spinnet – sporting a bloody gash on her forehead – Percy Weasley, Allan Quartermain and Tom Sawyer from _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ and John McClane from _Die Hard._

Harry poked his head over the lip of the crater. The Clone Army from _Star Wars _was engaged in a point blank shootout with Cybermen and the reptilian Jem'Hadar from _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine._ Laser flashes illuminated the tightly packed bodies as they fell in clumps. Harry brought up his wand as a few Cybermen and Jem'Hadar leaked through the Clone Troopers.

A loud explosion went off right next to him. The stench of cordite filled his nostrils and made his eyes water. Smoke billowed from Quartermain's long rifle. A Jem'Hadar crumpled to the ground with a bloody hole in its head. The old adventurer dug into his pockets for a few seconds, then scowled.

"I think I should have brought more bullets."

"Yeah?" McClane turned to Quartermain. "I think I shoulda brought a friggin' ICBM."

Spells and bullets brought down more Jem'Hadar. The Cybermen were another matter. Rounds from the movie characters' guns simply bounced off their metal hides.

The same didn't apply to Redactor Curses. One hit turned a Cyberman to scorched bits of metal.

Harry swallowed as the Clone Troopers vanished under the advancing Cybermen and Jem'Hadar. Viktor and Alicia cast Shield Spells to fend off the barrage of laser bolts. Harry and the others fired around the shields, but judging from the strain on Viktor's and Alicia's faces it would only be a matter of time before their protection vanished.

The TV aliens marched up the small rise to their crater, unfazed by their falling or exploding comrades.

"Now I know why I hate TV." McClane rammed a fresh magazine into his submachine gun and sprayed a pair of Jem'Hadar.

Sawyer emptied his pistol into another Jem'Hadar and reloaded. "I think we're gonna have to . . ."

A streak of red caught Harry's eye. The obscenely muscular Mr. Incredible from the animated movie _The Incredibles_ charged through the Cyberman, knocking down over a dozen. _Sailor Moon _flung her magic tiara and lopped off the heads of two Cybermen. The half-demon anime warrior _InuYasha_ took down a dozen Jem'Hadar and Cybermen with one swing of his Tessaiga sword. The movie _Spiderman_ webbed up three Cybermen and a Jem'Hadar. Multi-colored streaks shot through the air, taking down more TV aliens. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Ron, Dean, Dennis, Ginny, George, Jimmy O'Bannon and Rosa Infante charged toward them, spells leaping continuously from their wands.

"Reinforcements are here, Mister Potter." Kingsley used a Melting Spell to turn a Cyberman into molten slag.

"No offense, Minister, but I think we'll need a lot more."

"Already taken care of." Kingsley grinned and nodded to his right.

Harry turned. Toy-like tanks, Jeeps and mobile rocket launchers from the _Godzilla _movies rumbled toward them. Behind the vehicles marched hundreds of Union Army soldiers from _Gettysburg _and gray-clad soldiers from the movie _Starship Troopers._

With sharp cracks and high-pitched shrieks, shells and rockets burst from the armored vehicles. Fountains of dirt and smoke sprang up amongst the hordes of _Resident Evil_ zombies and skeletal warriors from _Army of Darkness._ Pieces of flesh and bone flew into the air.

A smile traced Harry's lips. They just might have a chance to . . .

"Look out!" Dennis screamed and ducked.

Harry grabbed Ginny and pulled her to the bottom of the crater. Other bodies pressed against his. He managed to turn his head slightly and saw a red comet-like tail shoot overhead. Heat washed over him, like someone just threw him into an open oven. Sweat poured from his forehead as he peeked over the crater.

The flaming wreckage of a destroyer from _Babylon_ _5_ plowed into the earth. The ground shook as it carved out a huge crevasse . . . and tore through the allied reinforcements. People and vehicles vanished under waves of dirt and fiery metal.

McClane threw his hands into the air. "Yeah! God forbid you should land on them!" He nodded toward the zombies and skeletons.

"Come on!" Kingsley started out of the crater. "We have to fall back."

The Minister and Viktor cast Shield Spells. Harry and the others bolted alongside the crevasse made by the crashed spaceship, taking pot shots at their pursuers.

"So where the bloody hell are we supposed to go now?" Ron fired a Body-Bind Curse over his shoulder.

"Any place we can use for . . ."

Harry stopped when he saw a handful of people run past him, heading _toward_ the zombies and skeletons.

"Are they insane?" asked a wide-eyed Ernie.

"Maybe," Dean replied. "But they might be the only ones who can stop those things."

Harry watched in awe as _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_ launched herself at one of the skeleton warriors, shattering it with a kick. The white animated warrior _Samurai Jack_ swung his sword with preternatural quickness, chopping down dozens of skeletons. The three beautiful witches from _Charmed_ cast spells that turned several skeletal warriors to dust.

The zombies didn't get off any easier. Ash, his eyes blazing with maniacal delight, charged into the undead creatures, swinging his chainsaw arm and firing his "boomstick." The black-clad _Vampire Hunter D_ and the lithe but deadly Miho from _Sin City_ lashed out with their swords. Zombie heads went flying while their bodies crumpled to the ground.

"Merlin's Beard." Rosa gaped at the ever-growing pile of zombie bodies and skeleton bones. "I think they're going to destroy every last one of those things themselves."

"Yeah, but I think they're gonna need a lot more help with what's next." O'Bannon grimaced and pointed.

Two hundred meters away from the falling zombies and skeletons marched over a hundred Zentraedi battlepods and fifty Imperial Walkers. They were joined by over three hundred Daleks, a swarm of Bugs from _Starship Troopers_ and clusters of dark plant creatures from _Day of the Triffids_.

"What is it the Muggles say?" Kingsley held up his wand. "Time to bring in the _bygones?"_

"Big guns," Dean, Dennis and O'Bannon all said at the same time.

Kingsley gave them a half-smile. "Yes. Those."

He waved his wand over his head. A ball of yellow light rose into the sky, split into several rays and streaked into the forest.

With most of the zombies and skeletons destroyed and the second enemy wave approaching, Buffy and the other monster fighters retreated.

"Sorry," Buffy said as she approached Kingsley and the others. "I don't think there's much we can do against those Walkers and battlepods."

"Don't worry about that, Miss. I've called in some . . . specialists."

Buffy cranked an eyebrow. Before she could speak, an ear-splitting roar enveloped the battlefield. Everyone cringed and covered their ears.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron whipped back and forth.

Dean's jaw dropped. He turned first to Dennis, then to O'Bannon. All three Muggle-borns exchanged shocked but knowing looks.

"I'd know that roar anywhere," said Dennis.

The roar, louder than any dragon Harry ever heard, ripped through the air again. He turned to the forest. A huge green mass toppled over trees like matchsticks. Harry started shaking, his eyes locked on the largest creature he'd ever seen.

"Holy crap!" O'Bannon blurted. "It's Godzilla!"

Godzilla roared again. A blue glow formed in his mouth. Seconds later a jet of blue flame shot out and struck one of the Imperial Walkers. It exploded into a thousand pieces. Another blast destroyed a second Walker. Lasers streaked toward Godzilla, but didn't seem to penetrate his thick green scales.

Zentraedi battlepods and Daleks rose into the air, blazing away. Godzilla continued to advance, destroying another Walker.

The battlepods and Daleks closed on Godzilla, the intensity of their fire picking up.

Harry's head snapped back in surprise when a fireball tore through the air and incinerated dozens of battlepods and Daleks. The survivors broke formation and scattered. A second fireball destroyed more.

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Percy pointed.

Harry followed his brother-in-law's finger and saw a huge turtle flying through the air spitting fireballs.

"Oh yeah!" Dean cheered. "_Gamera_!"

Two more giant robots appeared. Lion Force _Voltron_ opened its hands and spat fire onto the Bug swarm. Hundreds of agonized shrieks cut through the air as flames consumed the creatures. A red ray from the chest of _Tranzor Z_ fried numerous Triffids.

"If those big fellows keep this up, we should be able to reach the Stacyx before they can invade," stated Quartermain.

"Speaking of those ugly things, I haven't seen a one since these . . . villains showed up," Alicia noted.

"They're not going to risk themselves in this fight. Not when they have all this cannon fodder." Harry swept a hand across the battlefield.

"At this rate, all the cannon fodder won't be around much longer." Ash smiled as Godzilla chopped a walker in half with his arm while _Tranzor Z_ used his hurricane breath to send dozens of Triffids tumbling across the valley.

"Um, guys." A worried look fell over the face of Phoebe from _Charmed._ "I think it might be a _liiiitle_ too early to start celebrating."

As _Gamera_ went to finish off the remaining Zentraedi battlepods, three lightning bolts struck him in the chest. He roared and fell onto his back. King Ghidorah landed on the giant turtle and began stomping him. The winged three-headed monster was soon joined by the huge praying mantis from the 1950s movie _The Deadly Mantis, _who battered _Gamera _with its forelegs. _Voltron_ hurried over to help, but the Tyrannosaur Grumpy from _Land of the Lost_ leapt on the robot and clamped its jaws on one of the lion-like arms. _Voltron _flung off the dinosaur, only to get a faceful of flame from the dragon Vermithrax from the movie _Dragonslayer. _A Cyclops from the movie _The 7__th__ Voyage of Sinbad_ and the Tyrannosaur from _The Valley of Gwangi_ tackled _Voltron_ and brought it to the ground.

Godzilla smashed apart another Imperial Walker when beams from the giant Gyaos birds from the _Gamera_ movies sliced through its hide. Godzilla cried out and stumbled back. The mutant dinosaur _Yonggary, Monster from the Deep_ rushed up behind Godzilla and knocked him down. As the Korean movie monster kicked the downed behemoth, Rodan swooped down and clawed Godzilla's face.

Harry looked to _Tranzor Z_, hoping he could help. But that giant robot was being pummeled by three more Godzilla foes . . . Gigan, Megalon and Titanosaurus.

"Now what?" Sawyer's voice cracked slightly.

A Jeep rumbled behind them. Harry turned to see General Patton standing in the passenger seat, holding on to the windshield. The vehicle halted, and Patton jumped out and saluted Kingsley.

"Minister. Our entire front is crumbling. We don't do something now those sons'a bitches are gonna grind us all into the ground and pick their teeth with our bones."

"What about aerial bombardment?"

"You looked up in the sky lately?"

Kingsley raised his head, as did Harry. His stomach turned into a lead weight.

The _Argo_, the _Phoenix _from _Battle of the Planets_ and the Planet Ice fleet from _War Planets_ waged a desperate battle against two Borg cubes and three Imperial star destroyers. Smoke and flame poured out of the _SDF-1_ from _Robotech_ and it battled fifteen spider-like Shadow vessels from _Babylon 5._ _Voyager, Defiant_ and every version of the _Enterprise_ exchanged fire with Zentraedi and Goa'uld ships.

"And you can forget about all the really powerful superheroes, too," Patton continued. "Superman, Thor, Hercules, Hulk, they're all fighting four or five bad guys each. Biggest muscle the Stacyx have. Doomsday, Bizzaro, Juggernaut, you name it."

Harry's legs trembled. He clenched his teeth, trying to fight down his fear. _We can't fail. There's has to be something we can do._

A flurry of movement caught this attention. Harry turned and saw hundreds of people darting across the smoldering and pockmarked valley. _His _people. Wizards, witches, TV and movie characters. All were in full retreat.

He felt the urge to yell, to demand they turn and face the Stacyx's allies. Millions of Muggle lives, the fate of the entire Wizarding World, were at stake.

Then he turned around.

Harry's mouth silently fell open. Fear struck him with a physical force. He barely felt Ginny's fingers wrap around his hand.

A solid wave of men and creatures surged toward them. Orcs, zombies, old and new Cylons, Visitor troopers, Daleks, Invid, Stormtroopers, _I, Robot_ robots, skeleton-like robots from _Terminator, _Putty warriors from _Power Rangers, Aliens_, Sea Devils from _Dr. Who, _COBRA troopers from _GI JOE._ Hovering around them were several of the Martian warships from _War of the Worlds._

"Come on!" Kingsley waved to them. "Get to the forest! We'll try to lose them in there!"

Harry ran, still holding Ginny's hand. It didn't surprise him she kept pace with him. Lasers and tracers filled the air and tore into the ground. The smoke grew thicker. Screams penetrated the dull buzz that clogged his ears. All around him men and women fell dead or were simply incinerated. He spotted Malfoy running nearby, his pinched face whiter than usual, his eyes blazing with terror.

"Get out of my way!" Blaise Zabini pushed past the police officers Bosco and Faith from the show _Third Watch_ and kept running. "Malfoy! Wait up, dammit!"

Malfoy ignored him, never slowing his gait.

"Mal-"

Zabini tripped and fell, his wand flying from his hand. Clawing the ground, the Slytherin scrambled halfway to his feet.

That's when everyone heard the roar.

Harry slowed, as did Ginny. His wife gasped when she saw the Tyrannosaur from _Jurassic Park _charge toward Zabini.

Zabini twisted around . . . and screamed. Fear froze him in place. Harry brought up his wand.

The Tyrannosaur was too fast. Its jaws snapped down on Zabini. When the dinosaur lifted its mouth, a pair of legs dangled from it.

Harry clenched his wand. He tried to feel something, but his soul felt numb. He never liked Blaise Zabini, but . . .

"Harry! C'mon!" Ginny pulled him toward the forest.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to block out Zabini's death. He and his friends had to live, regroup and mount another attack on the Stacyx.

_And how do we . . ._

A streak of light flashed out the corner of his eye. Someone screamed and fell.

Ernie MacMillan lay on the ground, clutching his side.

"Oh God! Oh God, help!"

Harry and Ginny started toward him. Suddenly Viktor appeared, pocketed his wand and knelt beside Ernie.

"I'll take care of him! You go!"

Harry nodded. Together with Ginny they made it to the forest with the others. He noticed Hermione, her worried eyes locked on Viktor.

"Give them covering fire!" ordered General Patton.

Spells and tracers flew out of the forest. Dozens of enemy troops twisted and fell. Viktor, with Ernie draped over his shoulder, hurried toward the trees as fast as he could.

"Come on, Viktor!" Hermione yelled as she blasted a _Terminator _robot with a Redactor Curse.

An energy bolt sizzled just inches from Viktor. He started zigzagging, trying to throw off the enemy's aim. He got closer and closer to the trees. His face strained under Erine's weight. But just a few more meters and . . .

A green energy ball from a Martian warship struck Viktor. He froze, glowing like a green X-ray. So did Ernie's limp form. Harry watched in horror as the two suddenly vanished from sight.

"NO!!" Hermione screamed. "VIKTOR!!"

Harry heard more gasps behind him, and a sob. Most likely Alicia. Harry blinked, waiting, hoping for Viktor and Ernie to reappear, just as he had when Sirius fell into the veil.

Just as Sirius never reappeared, neither did Viktor or Ernie.

"Come on!" Kingsley shouted. "We have to move!"

Harry took six steps before he managed to tear his eyes from the spot were Viktor and Ernie ceased to exist. Another sob reached his ears. Hermione. As he passed O'Bannon he heard the American hiss, "Dammit . . . dammit," through clenched teeth. Ernie had been one of his teammates on the Triad hockey team.

"Look there!" Rosa pointed to a dry creek bed.

Everyone hurried over to it and jumped in.

"No more running, dammit!" growled Patton. "We're not gonna beat these sons'a bitches by running! We're gonna get however many of us are left and . . ."

"Oh my God," Dennis stammered.

Harry followed his friend's stare. He saw a robed figure on his knees hunched over something. His head was bowed and his shoulders shuddered with quiet sobs.

Harry crawled over on all fours. He now saw the thing the man knelt beside was a body. He couldn't see the face as the man's body blocked it. Harry closed his eyes, the faces of Viktor and Ernie etched in his mind's eye. He prayed it wasn't someone else he knew.

He crawled up next to the man. The breath caught in his throat when he recognized him.

Bentley Basham.

The old ex-auror turned to him, his eyes glistening with tears.

"I found her and . . . I know we had . . . I just couldn't leave her out there."

Harry's arms and legs shook. His insides collapsed. He didn't want to look down, he didn't want this to be real.

Biting his lip, he lowered his head inch by agonizing inch. He didn't even try to stop the tears as they flowed freely down his cheeks.

Before him lay the lifeless body of Professor Minerva McGonagall.

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Sorry for the long interval between chapters. No writer's block, just a lot of stuff going on at this end over the last week. First, I got a ticket to the Nightwish concert in Tempe (which kicked ass! New singer Anette Olzon his awesome . . . and hot!). Then I had a State Playoff game for football to broadcast. Immediately after said game, I came down with a nasty stomach bug, and four hours on a cramped bus when you're sick sucks. As for writing when you're sick, forget about it. Thankfully, I'm back to my old self and ready to bring you the climax to this story. Again, thanks for your continued interest in "The Airwaves War." _


	15. Chapter 15

Harry shook uncontrollably. He didn't want to accept it, just like he didn't want to accept Viktor's and Ernie's deaths.

But there before him lay Professor McGonagall, her eyes closed, her robes and flesh charred. Professor McGonagall, his Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor for a big chunk of his life. Professor McGonagall, who did everything in her power to protect him and the other Hogwarts students during Dolores Umbridge's reign of terror. Professor McGonagall, who kept her word and helped him become an auror.

And now she was dead.

Harry felt a hand on his back. Ginny knelt next to him, her eyes shining with moisture. Other old Gryffindors gathered around. Ron held Hermione tight as she bawled. Alicia buried her face in the shoulder of a stunned George. Percy and O'Bannon stared at McGonagall with a mixture of disbelief and sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Minerva." Basham gently stroked McGonagall's forehead. "I'm so sorry."

"Harry?"

He turned to find Kingsley Shacklebolt next to him.

"Harry, I'm sorry. But we'll . . . we'll have to mourn for Professor McGonagall and the others later. Right now we have to stop the Stacyx."

Harry sniffled and wiped his face with the sleeves of his robes. "Y-Yes, Minister."

The Minister of Magic nodded. "I'm going with General Patton to find someplace we can regroup and counter-attack. You're in charge here. Try to round up as many stragglers as possible." He checked his watch. "We have less than forty-five minutes before the Stacyx begin their invasion. If you don't hear from me in fifteen minutes, take whatever forces you have and do whatever you have to to stop the Stacyx."

"Yes, Minister."

Kingsley nodded and hurried away with Patton.

Harry drew a breath, trying to settle himself. He went around to everyone in the creek bed, enlisting them as sentries or to scout around for any more friendlies. He left Basham with McGonagall. Someone should be mourning for her during all this.

Their numbers increased over the next few minutes as others came across the creek bed. Michael and Cho Corner, Angelina Johnson, Jared Diaz, Artimus Rand, the animated _Batman, _Legolas and Gimli from _Lord of the Rings, Trigun_, a battered Arnold Schwarzenegger from _Terminator 2, _Captain America from _The Avengers _cartoons, _Danny Phantom,_ _Xena: Warrior Princess, _Colonel Carter from _Stargate SG-1_ and the Third and Tenth Doctors, along with their companions Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Leela, Jamie McCrimmon and K-9.

"We might be safe for a while," Cho said. "All those evil characters are chasing down our people who are still out in the open. They're not even coming into the forest."

"Don't count on that lasting long." Colonel Carter put a fresh magazine into her rifle. "It won't be long before they organize search parties for us."

"Or," the Tenth Doctor began, "once their air force gets done with our air force, they may just decide to bomb every square inch of this forest."

"Either way we can't stay here much longer." Batman folded his arms and surveyed the group. "Besides, we don't have much time before the Stacyx launch their invasion of the other world."

Harry bit his lip and checked his watch. He had five more minutes to wait for Kingsley's signal before they were on their own.

Five minutes passed without word from Kingsley. Harry's stomach knotted. Was the Minister dead, too?

He closed his eyes. _Mourn later._ That's what Kingsley had told him. Hard as it was, Harry would have to do that. Defeating the Stacyx took precedence.

"We've waited as long as we can for the Minister." He looked around at the others. "It's up to us to stop the Stacyx."

"You got a plan, Harry?" asked Dennis.

Harry sighed, his face scrunching in anger. No, he didn't have a plan. What the hell plan could he have with barely fifty people? Even if they somehow made it past these evil TV and movie characters, how they hell could they stop 800,000 Stacyx from invading their world?

"If anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them."

No one spoke. Harry tensed, expecting someone to offer something. The silence continued to drag on.

His heart pounded furiously. What the hell now? About the only option he could see was charging out of the woods guns, and wands, blazing. He doubted that would work.

"So, ya think we have time to go to that movie _The Day After?_" McClane said in his usual sarcastic tone. "Get a couple nukes and vaporize this whole place."

"Even if we did have time for that, I don't think it would be such a good idea," noted Dean. "Considering we'd still be here when those things went off."

O'Bannon snorted. "Well short of something cataclysmic like that, I don't see how we can stop the Stacyx."

Harry felt his face redden. Anger made him breathe harder. There had to be something. Some spell, some curse. They couldn't just sit here and admit defeat.

"Too bad this isn't the end of the movie," Dean muttered.

Michael Corner raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"In _The Land That Time Forgot, _the movie ended when this volcano erupted and pretty much wiped out this place, though Doug McClure and Susan Penhaligon did survive."

"Well, why don't we go up to the volcano and ask it to erupt," Ash scoffed. "I'm sure that'll work."

"It might."

Everyone turned to Harry.

"What are you talking about?" asked _Danny Phantom._

"During my auror training, we did research on some of the most powerful spells wizards can use. One of them was called the _Vulcan Forgeus. _It can actually cause a volcanic eruption."

"I know about it, too." This, to no one's surprise, from Hermione. "It's a very complicated spell. It'd take an exceptional wizard to perform it."

"Like an auror," said Harry.

Hermione nodded. "But it's extremely dangerous. You have to go _into_ the volcano in order to perform it. Once it's complete you'll only have a minute or so to get out before the eruption."

"I don't suppose anyone has a spellbook handy?" George asked with a half-smile.

"No need. I actually memorized it."

All the wizards and witches shot Hermione amazed looks.

"What? It was a fascinating spell."

"Okay, so we have a plan to stop the Stacyx," said Rosa. "Now how do we get past them and their freak army to carry it out?"

"That won't be a problem, Madam." The Third Doctor looked to the Tenth. "Our TARDISes aren't far from here. We can use them to get to the volcano."

"And use them to get all our people to safety when it erupts," The Tenth Doctor chimed in.

Harry's breathing quickened. It was risky and pretty far-fetched, but it was all they had. And maybe, just maybe, it could work.

"Good." Hermione nodded. "Now, you'll all need to guard the volcano in case the Stacyx or their allies show up while I go down into it and . . ."

"Whoa!" Ron shouted, his face chalk white with shock. "While _you_ go into the volcano?"

"Ron, I know the spell. I can . . ."

"No way! I am not letting you do this."

"This isn't the time, Ron!"

"The hell it isn't!"

"Look, I'm the one in charge here." Harry stepped between them. "Tell me the spell and I'll do it."

"Harry, you heard what Hermione said." Horror broke through Ginny's usually stoic mask. "How will you be able to get out of there in a minute?"

"I'll find a way. Don't worry."

"Don't tell me not to worry! I'm not going to be a widow at twenty-four, and I'm not having James grow up without a father."

"You're not going to be a widow, Ginny." Hermione's face tightened in determination. "I'm the most qualified to do this, and that's final."

"No it's not final." Harry's head snapped toward her. "The Minister left me in charge here, and that makes it my responsibility."

"Harry!" Ginny stalked over to him. "You can't . . ."

"Oi!"

The voice took Harry by surprise, because it was filled with anger . . . and because it came from George Weasley.

"By the time you lot get done with this row, the Stacyx are going to be sucking down Muggle brain waves."

"George is right." O'Bannon stepped forward. "I say we do what they did in _Armageddon. _Draw straws, and whoever winds up with the short one gets to blow up everything."

"You don't expect me to be part of this insanity," Malfoy said in a shaky voice.

A scowling George turned to him. "No, Malfoy. The only thing we expect from you is to cower in a bloody hole."

"No one's drawing straws."

Harry froze, not expecting to hear that particular voice. He turned and found Bentley Basham standing nearby, his wrinkled face damp with tears.

"Mister Basham?"

"I said you're not drawing straws. None of you are going into the volcano. _I am."_

Harry tried to respond, but shock froze his vocal cords. Finally he forced out a sentence. "Are you sure?"

Basham grunted. "Look at you all. You're young, you have families. You owe it to your wives and husbands and children not to leave them alone. If someone is going to risk his life, let it be an old man that has nothing to live for."

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	16. Chapter 16

Harry knew he was running. Everyone was running through the forest. But the world still went by in slow motion. No matter how hard, how fast he ran, he never felt like he made progress.

_Adrenaline._ He knew it coursed through his veins like water through a shattered damn, speeding up his body yet slowing down the world around him. Panic surged through him. They couldn't be going slow now. Not with the Stacyx invasion less than a half-hour away.

Harry grunted, pumping his legs harder and ignoring his burning lungs.

Finally he saw it sticking up through a couple tall bushes. The blue box familiar to Muggle science fiction fans all over the world.

They finally reached the TARDIS.

He looked around at his little army, which had grown during their journey to the Doctor's ship. Added to their ranks were Luke Skywalker and Yoda from _Star Wars_, the original _Power Rangers, _Lee Marvin and the surviving members of _The Dirty Dozen, _The Brigadier, Sergeant Benton and a few UNIT soldiers from _Dr. Who_ and Booth from _Bones._

Harry rushed into the TARDIS and stood to the side as the others piled in, many gazing around wide-eyed at the large interior. Booth, Agent Sawyer and Gimli did their gawking right in the doorway.

"Yes, it's bigger on the inside than the outside," Sarah Jane Smith snapped at them. "Now move!"

Harry clenched his teeth and checked his watch. Less than twenty minutes until the Stacyx launched their invasion.

_Come on!_ He bounced on the balls of his feet, his breathing quickening as the rest of his forces filed into the TARDIS.

"I'm it!" announced Jamie McCrimmon. "Let's go!"

The Tenth Doctor's hands flew over the console. Seconds later a groan filled the TARDIS control room.

"We're here." The Doctor said as he activated the view screen.

The mouth of the volcano lay just a few meters away, wisps of smoke floating up from it.

The angle of the screen changed. It now showed the base of the volcano. Harry heard a few gasps as he swallowed at the sight on the screen.

Hundreds of Stacyx milled about at the base of the volcano.

His heart hammering, Harry searched out Bentley Basham. He maneuvered around several people before reaching him. "How long do you need to perform the _Vulcan Forgeus?"_

Basham let out a slow breath. "Five, maybe ten minutes. Like your Hermione said, it's a complicated spell."

Harry suddenly felt cold. He looked at the screen again, at the hundreds of Stacyx below. They would eventually spot the TARDIS. And then . . .

He closed his eyes, trying to fight down his fears. "Then we better get a move on." He hoped that sounded confident enough.

They all hurried out of the TARDIS. The Brigadier, Rosa Infante and Luke Skywalker set up a perimeter while Harry, Ron, Hermione and Basham headed over to the lip of the volcano. They all looked down. An orange-red pool of lava bubbled far below them. Harry felt his entire face glow with heat.

"There. That ledge." Basham pointed to a small rock outcropping about sixty meters down. "Levitate me down there."

Harry reluctantly nodded. "Good luck."

He cast a levitation spell and lowered the ex-auror into the volcano. "We will get you out, Mister Basham."

The old man just stared impassively at him. A dark hand of dread closed around Harry.

"Oi!" George Weasley shouted. "We're about to have company!"

Harry's heart pounded furiously. The cool breeze that washed over the top of the volcano did nothing to stop the sweat pouring over his face. He hurried back to the perimeter with Ron and Hermione close by.

"Oh bloody hell." Ron's voice quivered.

The Stacyx rushed up the volcano. Harry cringed at the hellish shrieks rising from their throats. My God, how he hated that sound.

He glanced around at his line. "No matter what, none of them get to Mister Basham."

Harry was answered by the cocking of guns, the unsheathing of swords and the buzz of light sabers.

Like huge purple ants the Stacyx swarmed over the rocky surface of the volcano. Harry's eyes darted over the creatures, trying to figure out which one to take out first.

He held his breath when he actually recognized one of the Stacyx. This creature was larger than the others with a white stripe down its torso.

Ner'kral, the Stacyx Overmaster.

The ground shook from the Stacyx footfalls. The horde couldn't be more than a hundred meters from them.

"NOW!!"

A roar of gunfire erupted. Spells shot over the rocky ground. Two dozen Stacyx fell before the rest erected shields. Bullets and spells bounced off the psychokinetic energy fields.

"Keep firing!" Harry yelled. "Wear down their shields!"

He cast a Chasm Spell similar to the one he used in _Buffy The Vampire Slayer._ Several Stacyx tumbled into the huge crack in the side of the volcano. Jimmy O'Bannon formed walls of solid ice with a Freezing Spell. Rosa, Hermione, Ginny and Cho created rockslides that crushed or swept away number of Stacyx.

The rest continued to advance, their shields fending off the barrage of bullets and spells. Mind blasts flew from the Stacyx. Fountains of dirt and rock exploded around them. Two UNIT soldiers collapsed, never to rise again. Angelina Johnson covered her left cheek where a flying stone cut it open.

The gap between them closed. Forty meters . . . thirty . . . twenty. Some of the Stacyx shields dropped. Bullets and spells sliced into them. Other Stacyx stepped over their dead comrades and continued the charge. The roar of gunfire and the screeching Stacyx battle cries merged into a hellish symphony. Tension crushed Harry's muscles as a wall of purple flesh filled his vision.

He cast Stunning Spells at point blank range. Five Stacyx fell before one took a swipe at him. Harry ducked. The creature tried for another blow when Dean Thomas hit it with a Petrifying Spell.

The Stacyx surged around Harry. He whirled around, firing spell after spell. Some of the creatures crumpled to the ground. Others fended off Harry's attacks with their psychokinetic shields.

He caught glimpses of the others around him. O'Bannon's friend Artimus Rand went flying from a vicious Stacyx backhand. Xena chopped down two creatures with her sword. Leela jumped on one Stacyx and jammed her knife into its throat. Legolas launched arrows with lightning quickness, creating a pile of dead Stacyx. Lee Marvin jammed his Thompson submachine gun into the gut of a Stacyx and nearly blew it in half.

Harry dropped two more Stacyx with Stunning Spells. Dozens more ran past. He hurried toward the edge of the volcano, casting spells. He couldn't let any of them reach Bentley Basham.

Buffy rolled on the ground in front of him. The blond pressed her left arm close to her body. A large welt lit up her left cheek. Harry hit the Stacyx bearing down on her with a Body-Bind Curse and kept going.

A Bat-o-rang flew through the air and clipped one Stacyx in the head. It crumpled to the ground. The other creatures turned just as Batman delivered a flying kick to a second Stacyx. Harry smiled as more of his friends and allies hurried to the edge of the volcano. Luke Skywalker lashed out with his light saber and brought down two more Stacyx. Gimli lopped off the legs of another creature with his battleaxe. The Power Rangers jumped into the middle of Stacyx and attacked with a flurry of fists and feet.

Harry stunned three more Stacyx. Hope flickered inside him. Basham had to be well into casting the _Vulcan Forgeus_ by now. Just a few more minutes and . . .

"They're breaking through! They're breaking through!"

Harry turned at the sound of Malfoy's panicked voice. He held his breath when he saw Trigun and Dean Thomas collapse under Stacyx blows. _Samurai Jack_ and Miho swung their swords, felling several Stacyx before they were forced back. Another Stacyx grabbed the Blue Power Ranger by the throat and threw him into the volcano. The Brigadier, Colonel Carter and the Dirty Dozen blazed away with their guns. Several Stacyx twitched and fell dead. Others ran right through the spray of bullets and knocked down the TV and movie soldiers.

Harry cast Redactor Curses. Four Stacyx exploded in a storm of blood and guts. He glimpsed Jimmy O'Bannon turn a Stacyx into an ice statue. A second one rushed at him to his left. O'Bannon spotted him and ducked . . . a second too late. The creature's taloned fingers ripped into the American wizard's back. O'Bannon cried out and dropped to his knees.

"Jimmy!" Jared Diaz levitated the Stacyx off its feet and dropped it into the volcano. He hurried over to his injured friend, along with George Weasley.

Harry blew up two more Stacyx. He noticed Percy Weasley lying listlessly on the ground. Hermione knelt down, wand in one hand, a dazed Ron in the other.

Panic overwhelmed Harry. He saw Stacyx climbing down the volcano like insects. He hurried over. One Stacyx bent down, preparing to climb down. No time to cast a spell. Harry barreled into the creature. It tumbled over the edge, shrieking until it landed in the lava far below.

Harry stuck his wand over the edge of the volcano and fired off Stunning Spells. Many of the Stacyx climbing down toward Bentley Basham's ledge were hit and tumbled into the pool of lava.

Harry sensed movement behind him. He spun around and saw a Stacyx over him, arm raised. The creature brought its arm down just as Harry shot it with a Stunning Spell. He gasped as the creature fell on top of him. Its head cracked against his. A hot blade of pain dug into his skull. Swirling blackness swept over his eyes. In the distance swore he heard glass shattering.

XXXXX

"_Ignis . . . Cor . . . Terra . . ."_

Bentley Basham waved his wand, trying to ignore the heat surrounding him. Sweat completely soaked through his robes. His mouth and throat felt dry as desert sand. A pounding pain had started in his head.

He had to ignore it. Concentrate completely on the spell.

"_Consurgo . . . Consurgo . . . Ignis Consurgo . . ."_

Swipe the wand to the left or right. Which was it? What did that girl Hermione say?

_Damn memory._

It was right! Basham sliced his wand to the right.

"_Mei Animus . . . Mei Imperium . . . Consurgo!"_

He glimpsed movement above him. Stacyx, climbing down to get him.

_To hell with you._ The spell was almost complete. Just one more line . . .

_Half circle with the wand. Do I start from the left or the right? Which one, dammit? Which one? Come on, you stupid old man. Don't botch this . . ._

Basham froze at the shriek of a mind blast. The world exploded around him. He screamed as he fell through the air.

XXXXX

"Get off!" Harry growled and shoved the unconscious Stacyx off him. He sat up, gripping his wand tightly. He looked left to right, searching for more targets.

The world was a total blur.

"Dammit!" His glasses had fallen off. On all fours he scrambled around, feeling the rocky surface underneath him. Where the hell were his glasses? His hands quickly swept over the rocks. Fear clawed the back of his mind. A Stacyx could sneak up on him and finish him off and he'd never know it.

_Where are they?!_

His right hand finally wrapped around the frames of his glasses. He let out a sigh of relief . . . until his fingers went completely through where the lenses should have been.

XXXXX

Bentley Basham's eyes fluttered open. Shock burst inside of him. He was alive. How the hell did that happen?

But Merlin's Beard it was hot. He'd never experienced heat like this. Like fire danced over his body.

He noticed an orange glow out the corner of his eye. Lava. So close he could reach out and touch it.

Basham realized he was on his back. He tried to sit up, but his body refused to obey. He glanced down. Horror clenched his throat when he saw his legs completely covered by rocks. Surprisingly he felt no pain. His right eye twitched. A tear rolled down his cheek. The fall and the rocks must have shattered his spine.

He tried to move his arms. His left wouldn't respond. Thankfully he could lift his right arm, his wand arm.

His wand! Where the hell was it?

Basham moved his head as far to the right as he could. He saw his wand lying on a little pile of rocks below the ledge he'd miraculously fallen on, sparing him from a fatal lava bath.

_Lucky me._

But how lucky would he be if he survived and couldn't complete the _Vulcan Forgeus?_ What would it matter if he lived while millions of Muggles, and every wizard and witch in the world, perished?

Groaning, he reached out and just behind him, trying to grasp his wand. With want little strength he had Basham tried to push himself along the ledge. He doubted he moved a millimeter. He continued to reach for his wand, his fingers snapping so close to it.

The heat from the lava seeped inside him. His eyelids grew heavy. He wanted to close them and sleep so bad, a sleep he knew he'd never wake up from.

_Would that be so bad?_ Whatever lay beyond in the next world couldn't be worse than what he had in this world. Maybe he'd even be reunited with Minerva. Maybe they could have in the next world what they didn't have in this one.

_No! You still have a job to do._

Face strained, he reached out again, his fingers nearly touching the tip of his wand.

_Come on, old man. Don't fail at this like you've failed at everything else in your life._

With a tortured groan, Basham reached for the wand. His fingers brushed against.

_Almost . . . almost._

A large monstrous form landed on the rocks that covered his legs. Basham's eyes widened when he recognized the creature.

Ner'kral drew back for a second as he eyed Basham. He could easily read the fear on the misshapen face of the Stacyx Overmaster. Inwardly he smiled at the thought these creatures probably feared him as much as his people had feared Lord Voldemort.

"Death That Walks." Ner'kral steeled himself. He suddenly bent over, his hand shooting out and clamping down on Basham's throat. He tried to gasp, but couldn't summon any air.

Ner'kral leaned closer to his face. "First you, then the rest of your miserable race."

XXXXX

A brief flash of pain went through Harry's right index finger. He ran it along a jagged piece of glass in the shattered frame of his glasses. He closed his left eye and held the frame to his face. A small piece of the lens remained. Harry held it up to his right eye like a monocle. A small piece of the world suddenly came into focus. He swung around, catching sight of Ash shoving his chainsaw into the gut out a Stacyx and Michael Corner being swatted away by another creature.

Harry turned to the left . . . and froze.

Two Stacyx appeared over him. One of the creatures leered and reached down.

Blue flashes leapt off both their bodies. The two Stacyx stiffened and crumpled to the ground. Three meters away Harry saw Dennis Creevey, wand raised.

"You okay, Harry?"

He nodded and turned back to the volcano. His shattered lens up to his face, he peered down.

Fear gripped his heart. The ledge where Basham had stood was gone.

_Oh God, no. No!_

_  
_He searched desperately for the old auror, but found no sign of him. Did he fall into the lava? If he was dead did any of them have time to cast another _Vulcan Forgues?_

Wait! There! Just above the lava pool. He spotted Basham lying under a pile of rocks . . . and Ner'kral over him.

"Dennis! Keep me covered!"

Dennis nodded. A second later he brought down a Stacyx with a Body-Bind Curse.

Harry focused on the little clear patch of the world that contained Bentley Basham and Overmaster Ner'kral. He reached over the edge with his wand. God, could he do this?

XXXXX

Darkness closed around Basham. He didn't even try to fight back. What was the point? Without a wand, with his body broken, there wasn't a damn thing he could do. Just accept death, accept failure.

_You were right, Minerva._

She had been right to leave him. At least she did something with her life, unlike him. Thirty years of futile searching for the Stacyx before he convinced himself they all had died in the _Titanic_ documentary. He'd been so wrong. Now the world would pay for his mistake.

Ner'kral blurred. The darkness took more of his vision. Basham relaxed. He had no right to live when millions would die because . . .

A blue flash shot past Ner'kral. The Overmaster's hand unclamped from Basham's throat. He drew in a grateful breath of scorching air.

"What?" Ner'kral looked up.

A second blue flash, a Stunning Spell, caught the Stacyx full in the face. Without a sound, Ner'kral toppled over and fell into the lava. His body sizzled as the boiling orange mass enveloped him.

Basham took another breath that scratched his throat. A voice screamed in his brain, destroying all thoughts of failure and death.

_Finish the spell! Finish the spell!_

Basham stretched out his hand. He smacked his middle and index fingers together like scissors.

He felt the tip of the wand between them.

Carefully, he lifted the wand off the stones, laid it on his chest and gripped it tight in his right hand.

_Right to left. It's right to left._

Basham swept his wand in an arc in front of him.

"_Ignis Consurgo! Ignis Consurgo!"_

XXXXX

The ground shook beneath Harry. A rumble vibrated the very air, growing louder by the second. The Stacyx, along with Harry's friends and allies, stopped fighting and looked around.

"He did it. He did it!"

"Everyone back to the TARDIS!" shouted the Third Doctor.

Harry ignored the order and looked back into the volcano. He pointed his wand at Basham far below. If he could hit Ner'kral from this distance he should be able to get the old auror out of . . .

An ethereal white form appeared in from of him. A Patronus, this one in the form of a gazelle.

"Don't bother trying to save me, Potter." It was Bentley Basham's voice.

"You'll never be able to get all these rocks off me and levitate me out of here in time. Besides, my body's broken. I'll be dead long before you can get me to a healer."

"But . . . but maybe . . ."

"I knew this would be a one-way trip. I'm perfectly all right with that. For once in my life, I didn't mess things up."

Moisture formed in Harry's eyes as he stared at the Patronus. The rumbling and shaking grew more intense.

"Good-bye, Potter. You take care of that family of yours. You tell your friends the same thing. I wish you all better lives than I had."

The Patronus vanished.

"Harry! Come on!" Ginny grabbed him by the arm. She practically dragged him to the TARDIS as the surviving Stacyx hurried down the volcano.

XXXXX

Fountains of lava shot up nearby in a macabre dance. The rumbling engulfed Basham's ears. He simply folded his hands on his chest and closed his eyes.

_I'll see you soon, Minerva._

XXXXX

Harry cringed when he saw a huge geyser of lava explode from the volcano. He lowered his head, thinking of Bentley Basham.

_I should have tried to save him._

His eyes remained locked on the TARDIS view screen. Everyone's attention was on the erupting volcano as lava spilled down its side. Hundreds of Stacyx ran for their lives. The lava flowed faster, burying the fleeing creatures.

Fountains of lava ripped through the ground in other parts of _The Land That Time Forgot._ Flames spread over the primordial forests. Parts of the ground collapsed. Thousands upon thousands of Stacyx either vanished into the earth or were incinerated by lava. Fire and lava covered the battlefield where so many had fought and died.

"I'm getting word from the other Doctors," reported the Tenth Doctor. "They're successfully evacuating our forces. Even some of our spaceships have beamed up survivors."

"What about the Stacyx's allies?" Hermione looked up at the Doctor as she cradled Ron in her arms.

"Some of my other selves are reporting that they're being pulled into portals. I guess with most of the Stacyx dead their hold over the evil TV and movie characters is broken."

"Excuse me!" Martha Jones nearly bowled over Harry as she hurried around the TARDIS. This doctor quickly moved from one person to another, examining and treating them best she could. No one seemed to have escaped the battle unscathed. Buffy had her left arm in a sling. Dean grimaced as he held a dislocated left shoulder. Ron clenched his teeth and clutched his ribs. Malfoy sat in a corner shaking, his robes stained with his own vomit.

Martha knelt next to Jimmy O'Bannon, applying bandages to his back.

"You okay there, Jimmy?" asked George, who walked with a limp.

His face strained, O'Bannon looked up at him. "Do I look okay, you stupid git?"

George cranked an eyebrow. "Did you just call me a git?"

Through the obvious pain, O'Bannon managed a smile. "Oh my God, I did. I've been hanging around you Brits way too long."

George laughed. Even Harry managed to chuckle . . . until he thought of Basham. Had the old man been right? Would it have been futile to save him? Should he at least have tried? Would they have both wound up dead if he did?

Someone gently clutched his arm. Harry turned to find Ginny next to him.

"It's over, Harry. We did it." A smile lit up her dirt smeared face.

The tension drained from Harry as he felt the comfort from his wife's touch. He thought of Basham's last words. _"You take care of that family of yours."_

Harry pulled Ginny into him and held her tight.

* * *

_**NEXT: THE CONCLUSION**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**(THE BURROW, ONE MONTH LATER)**_

"My, my. You're being a messy eater tonight, aren't you, James."

Ginny leaned over with a cloth napkin and wiped off the gobs of food hanging from James' mouth. The one-year-old gurgled and tried to back away, determined not to have his mother clean him.

Harry smiled as he watched the spectacle. He then looked around the crowded table. Pure joy swept through him as he basked in this, the first gathering of his whole family since the defeat of the Stacyx.

He breathed a contented sigh. Some higher power must have been watching over them that day in _The Land That Time Forgot._ They may have been battered, bruised and bloodied, but everyone in the Weasley/Potter clan had come through the battle alive. So many others hadn't.

His mind drifted back to the aftermath of the battle. A few Stacyx had managed to escape through portals before _The Land That Time Forgot_ was consumed by fire and lava. At least three dozen Muggles around the world had been killed by them before groups of wizards, witches and TV and movie characters hunted them down and killed them. Harry still felt pangs of guilt over not being able to prevent those deaths, but considering what would have happened if Bentley Basham hadn't set off that volcano, they got off lucky.

Harry glanced down at the medal hanging around his neck. The Order of Merlin, presented to him by Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, who survived a Stacyx ambush while he had been trying to regroup his forces. Ginny insisted he wear it to dinner so the entire family could see it.

"Stop feeling embarrassed about it," she had told him. "You earned it."

That was debatable. If anyone had earned the Order of Merlin it was Bentley Basham, who had gone into the volcano and sacrificed himself to stop the Stacyx. Since Basham had no family, Kingsley gave Harry the old auror's posthumous award. He knew of only one appropriate place for it . . . the grave of Professor McGonagall.

He glanced a couple seats down to Hermione. Ron's wife had been unusually quiet tonight. Harry wondered if she still grieved for Viktor Krum. Sure their relationship ended a long time ago, but the Bulgarian had been her first real love. And to see the man die in front of her wouldn't be easy to get over. He worried about Ron's reaction to this, knowing how jealous and overprotective he could be. To his credit, he had given nothing but comfort to Hermione.

Work also helped her get through Viktor's death. After the final battle with the Stacyx the Ministry had given Hermione a new research project. She was to study how TV shows and movies turned into alternate universes. After just a couple weeks Hermione told him she'd already come up with some incredible findings. The one that intrigued him the most was how all the characters who had died during the war with the Stacyx still showed up in their respective movies and TV shows. Hermione had no idea how that was possible, but she was determined to learn the answer.

"I think we're all done, Mum," George piped up. "How's about dessert?"

"You just wait a moment, George," Molly Weasley snapped at her son. "Harry and Ginny said they have an announcement to make, and we're going to hear it _before_ dessert."

George turned to him and Ginny with a grin. "Make it quick, you two. I'm dying for a piece of plumb pie."

"George, behave! Honestly." Molly took a settling breath and turned to Harry and Ginny. "Now, what is this big news you two have?"

Harry looked to his wife, who smiled at him. They both stood, holding hands. Harry started to open his mouth, then glanced to Ron and Hermione. How would they take this?

_It's not like we can keep it a secret forever. The sooner everyone knows the better._

"Well, I guess since Harry looks overwhelmed by all this . . ." Ginny bumped into him playfully. "We wanted to let all of you know that we're about to have an addition to the family."

Molly clasped her hands together. Arthur Weasley sat up straighter as Ginny finished.

"I'm pregnant."

Whoops of delight went up around the table. Fleur brought both hands to her mouth and squealed in delight.

"Here, here!" Charlie raised his cup.

Harry tried to smile, but instead glanced back to Ron and Hermione. His brow furrowed when he noticed Hermione poke his brother-in-law and best friend in the ribs.

Ron stood hesitantly. "Um . . . I'd like to say something, too."

"What, you want a fourth helping before dessert?"

"George!" Molly glared at him, then turned to Ron. "What is it dear?"

"Well, um . . ." He gazed at everyone at the table. "I mean, Harry, Ginny, I don't want to steal you guys' thunder, but, well . . ."

"Oh, for Heaven's Sake, Ron. I can't believe you're nervous about this." Hermione leapt to her feet. She turned and locked eyes with her sister-in-law. "Ginny, I guess you're going to have company in the maternity ward. We found out just last week. I'm pregnant, too."

More cheers went up around the table. Harry immediately jumped over to Ron and threw an arm around his shoulder. He grinned wide as Harry shook him.

"I can't believe I'm going to be a father," Ron stammered.

"Neither can I." George smiled as he made his way around the table. "Boy, do I feel sorry for this kid."

Ron's face scrunched in anger. Before he could say anything, a laughing George wrapped his arms around him.

"Our ickle Ronniekins is going to be a daddy."

"Come here you, two." Molly beckoned over her youngest child and her daughter-in-law and pulled them both into a tight hug.

"I think even James is excited." Harry's godson, Teddy Lupin, who was sitting next to little Victorie Weasley, pointed to James. The baby was waving his arms up and down and laughing.

"Congratulations, Harry." Arthur shook his hand vigorously. "And the Weasley family continues to grow."

"Thanks, Dad." Harry smiled and looked over his shoulder. His eyes jumped from James to Teddy to Victorie. He thought of his and Ginny's second child, of Ron and Hermione's first child. Beyond the Burrow, he thought of other expectant couples . . . Dean and Luna Thomas, Jimmy and Mireet O'Bannon, even Draco and Pansy Malfoy. After dealing with so much death last month, the prospect of new life in the near future helped ease the pain of so many losses.

Harry closed his eyes, picturing the faces of people like Professor McGonagall, Viktor Krum, Ernie MacMillan and Bentley Basham. Because of their sacrifice, his children and his friends' children would all have a future.

**- THE END –**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed all the action in this story, then check out my original alien invasion novel "Dark Wings," available in paperback from Amazon and as an e-book from smashwords-dot-com._


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